How Can This Be Real? Sirius Black Story
by WideEyedWanderer
Summary: Life is perfect for Sirius Black - he has loyal mates, easy studies & is finally with the woman of his dreams but then it all goes horribly wrong & life as he knows it ends..as told from the start by Sirius to Harry and the gang
1. Girl troubles

"Sirius?" came a voice behind me. It was very close to Christmas and the entire Wesley family, Harry and Hermione were staying with me at Gridauld Place. I must say although I hated this house with every cell in my body it was very nice to be here with the ones I had come to love.

"Yes my dear boy?" I replied turning to look at him. He seemed in deep thought and very confused. I almost laughed out loud. He looked exactly like James did when he was in deep thought.

"I need your help." He said blushing slightly. I smiled.

"Girl troubles?" he looked up at me with raised eyebrows.

"How did you know?" Harry asked. I chuckled and clapped his shoulder.

"It's the only subject that you're shy with and besides I take notice of things." I steered him towards the kitchen table and sat down. Harry sat next to me and sighed.

"Why does it have to be so hard? I mean I have battled dark creatures, Dementors, Death eaters and even voldemort himself and I'm all good. But when it comes to girls…" he trailed off and sighed again. I laughed.

"It's not just you mate. Every young man has to go through this stage to. Trust me. And besides when has anything girls and women alike done ever easy?" I patted his shoulder.

"But I can't even speak when I'm around them. I get all tongue tied and I mumble and then I look completely idiotic and they laugh! Why do they always have to laugh or giggle? Surely the world isn't that funny?!"

"According to them it is." I chuckled. I found this whole conversation both amusing and interesting. Not to mention slightly upsetting. This should be a talk he has with his father not me. Not that I mind but it's one of those father son talks. I just hope he doesn't ask about the birds and the bees. Now that would be awkward.

"I just want to be able to walk up to her and tell her I like her." he said quietly. I turned my chair to look at him properly.

"Then why don't you do that then?" he looked at me as if I had grown an extra head.

"They travel in packs! You never see a girl on her own unless she is really ugly or really scary and that doesn't help my case. And when you have the courage to go up them and ask them if you can talk to them the whole group laughs at you including her and then your self esteem crashes to your toes. If on the very unlikely chance she actually goes with you and you get a chance to tell her your tongue swells up, you mumble and have to repeat it a dozen times and then she thinks you're a weirdo and walks off. Or there is those annoying awkward silences that go on forever and then you sit there wondering if she is bored and you try and start a conversation and end up saying something that you shouldn't and then you're in trouble and then the whole thing just blows up." he answered in a single breath. I sat there staring at him. Then I burst out laughing. Harry slumped in his chair.

"I'm sorry Harry b…but think about it. It's a very amusing sentence you stated." I said once I had calmed down. Harry smiled slightly and chuckled.

"Yeah I guess. But it's all true and I have no idea what to do."

"Well I guess the only thing you have to do is pluck up the courage and go and ask whoever this mysterious girl is that you like her." I replied. He groaned and put his head on the table. I patted his back knowing exactly how he felt as I had felt it myself. A very long time ago.

"What's wrong Harry?" came a pleasant voice behind us. I turned around and saw Lupin standing in the doorway looking both worried and worn out.

"Girl troubles. Harry here has no idea what to do." I smirked at him. Lupin smiled and walked around the table to take a seat across from Harry.

"What's the problem?" he asked. Harry looked up at him and then to me.

"I don't really want the whole household to know." He said. I looked at Lupin and smiled.

"Harry I don't really think you can call Lupin the whole household and besides he might have some good advice for you." Harry sighed and nodded.

"Basically I really like this girl but I have no idea whether or not I should tell her or leave it and if I do tell her then how do I tell her and what do I do if she rejects me?" he said. Lupin, like me laughed.

"I'm sorry Harry but this is quite a funny situation. After all you have fought of every dark creature that I can think of including Dementors, you have fought many Death eaters and even Voldemort and now you're sitting here stressing about a girl. I'm sorry Harry but look it from mine and Sirius's view. It is quite funny." We laughed again and even Harry had a small chuckle.

"Yeah I know but I still don't know what to do. They should make it a class at school. 'How to understand the mind of a girl.' It would be a lot better help than divination. It would be a great hit." He turned to me. "Please tell me what to do."

"Well you haven't really given us a problem to fix. Besides your nerves it seems pretty easy to me. Just go up and tell her." I said. Lupin nodded.

"What happens if there are two of them?" Harry mumbled. I raised my eyebrows and smirked.

"Nice job." I asked. Lupin on the other hand shook his head.

"Well in the case of two girls you have to look inside yourself and find out who you like more and then make your move with that one." He said. I nodded, still smirking.

"And if the one I like more is the sister of my best mate?" Harry said quickly. It took me a while to work out what he said.

"You like Ginny Wesley?" Lupin said shocked. I looked at Harry with my eyebrows nearly into my hair. He went a very bright red and nodded.

"Well that causes a bit of a problem then." I said stroking my stubble on my chin.

"Would Ron and the other boys be okay if you and her dated?" he shook his head.

"I don't think Ron would really like it that much. He is really protective of her. I'm not to sure about the others but I feel kinda…disloyal to Ron for liking Ginny. Is it a bad thing that I like her?" I sighed.

"Na mate. Not at all. It's actually understandable. I mean you stay with them every holiday, you're in the same house at school, and you are friends with the same people… I suppose it was only a matter of time til you fell for her."

"I agree with I Harry. You have done nothing wrong but if you're worried about your friendship with Ron than maybe talk to him about it subtlety. Or the other option is for you to stop liking her and move on if you don't wanna go through that whole scene with Ron." Lupin said leaning back in his chair. Harry sighed deeply.

"But I can't. I mean it's not that simple." He muttered. I leant forward and leaned on the table.

"Why not?" I asked sensing something else was weighing on his chest.

"I think…" he paused and took a big breath. " I think I may…love her." my jaw dropped to the ground. I looked over at Lupin who smiled softly.

"Love is a very powerful thing Harry. Are you s…?" he said leaning forward.

"Yeah I am. Well at least I think I am. I mean whenever I'm around her all I want to do is hold her and never let go. I just want to have the freedom to hug her to kiss her whenever I want without worrying about what everyone will say. I think about her all the time. I dream about her as well. All I want to do is be with her and only her. To hold her hand and let everyone know she is mine and that I love her and to be able to take her out to fancy restaurants and buying her presents and just…forget the world and Voldemort and just be happy with her. Isn't that what love is?" he asked looking over at us both. I was slumped back into my chair. All urges of laughing had left my body and I was left feeling like I had been hit by a car. I had said those words about someone I loved a very long time ago. Her frightened face swam in front of me, her voice screaming out my name echoed through the kitchen and I could feel the grip she had had on me on me now.

"Sirius!" Lupin's tone snapped through my thoughts like a lightning bolt. I shook all thoughts of her out of my head and tuned back in.

"I'm sorry what happened?" I asked.

"Harry asked you if you had ever been in love." Lupin said giving me a look. He knew what I had been thinking. I sighed and placed my elbows on the table.

"Yeah Harry I have been in love. I was actually married once a upon a time"

"Really? When? With who? What happened?" He asked sitting straighter and looking at me with intense interest.

"Harry, I don't really think you should ask him those…" Lupin tried to say but I waved my hand.

"It's ok. I think I'll be okay. Thanks Moony." I smiled at Lupin who reached over and squeezed my hand before sitting back in his chair. At least I still had him. God knows what I'd do if I lost Moony as well. We weren't as close as James and I but boy he was still important to me. I opened my mouth to tell Harry the story when Hermione and Ron came in followed by Fred, George and Ginny.

"Sorry, are we interrupting something?" Hermione stopped upon seeing all of us.

"Not at all my dear." Lupin said, leaning back.

"I was just about to tell Harry here about how I met my wife." I said smiling grimly at them. The room fell silent.

"Gooly mate, you never told us you were hitched." George…I think…said. They all nodded.

"You never asked did you?" I grinned at them. They all walked in and took seats around me and Lupin. Ginny, to my amusment sat next to Harry, who went bright red. I stifled a chuckle. Lupin stood up and got a fire roaring to warm the cold room.

"What happened I?" Ginny asked.

"It was a very long time ago. It's a terrible long and boring story and I doubt you guys wanna sit here all day listening to my boring voice." I said, wanting to tell them but at the same time wanting to keep her all to myself. I was immediately drowned by the cries of protests.

"You can't do that!"  
"Come on Sirius!"

"I would love to hear the story."  
"Yeah, I wanna know about the girl who managed to tame the wild I Black."  
"Was she pretty?" I laughed and waved my hands to quieten them down.

"Ok ok I'll tell you. But like I said it's a very long story and I'm gunna start right from the beginning. But don't blame me if you get bored. It's not a very interesting story." Lupin snorted.

"Liar. It's pretty much a modern day story of those Muggle fairytales." I elbowed him and he laughed.

"Come on I, please?" Ginny begged. I sighed.

"Fine. But if your mum comes in here and commits mass murder because nothing is being done then it's on your heads." They all nodded and looked more interested than I think I have ever seen them. I sighed again and rolled my eyes.

"It started one dark, quiet night seventeen years ago….."


	2. AUTHORS NOTE SORRY but IMPORTANT

A/N: I'm sorry to do this and get you all excited but I was reading back on this story and realised that the reason why I am up to so many chapters already is because most of them are so short. Here I was thinking that the chapters were long enough and the spelling was alright and what not…I really need to pay more attention.

So basically I am just letting you know that I am taking down this story and also Moonlight Romance and editing them. I will be putting them back up as soon as possible I promise. And they will be longer chapters and better grammar and more brand new chapters yay!

Keep reading and don't forget to review

Wanderer

xoxo


	3. wounded girl ad confused boys

Her feet pounded the pavement as the moon lit her path. Her breath caught in her throat. Her long cloak flapping out behind her. Her mind buzzing for an escape route and the blood from the injuries she received earlier were bleeding profoundly. The men behind her yelled out and threw something into her back. She cringed and ripped it out not once stopping. A large man stepped out in front of her.

"_**How do you know this if it's a girl's point of view?" Hermione asked. I turned and looked at her.  
"She told me after it happened." I said. She nodded and settled back. I shook my head slightly. Children.**_

"Got you now, girly." He smirked showing rotting teeth. She gasped and came to a stop, staring at the man. She turned around and saw around eight men coming up from behind.  
"Great." She muttered growling in frustration. She turned and faced the single man. He had a long silver dagger and a pair of silver handcuffs. Gathering her courage and what little strength she had left she ran full pelt at the man. The impact was a lot harder than she expected. They both fell to the ground hard. The girl gasped as the silver dagger grazed deeply against her right leg. She stood up and hurried on before the man even had a chance to sit up. A stitch roared in her side begging her to stop but she couldn't, the urge for freedom fuelling her on. And to add to all that the wounds that covered her body were starting to take their toll. She could feel the blood dripping down heavily.  
**~just a few more metres. ~** She thought **~just a few more metres and I'll be free~** suddenly out of know where a man jumped out on her left, swinging a long knife. It collided with her cheek and took her down with surprise. The man pounced on top of her and stabbed her again in the right shoulder before holding her arms down. Gasping with pain and lack of breath the girl looked at him full of hatred.  
"Men, I have her!" he called out loudly. He looked down at her and smirked. To her shock, he was around her age with long stringy greasy black hair and grey eyes. His skin with greying and shallow around his eyes and cheeks, he was rather creepy looking.  
"Well well well, look who finally got caught." He said smugly. She snarled at him and tried to fight against his hold, but found she didn't have the strength. He laughed at her."  
"Oh and she doesn't even have the strength to fight. Don't worry, what we have in mind for you won't need any strength at all...not from you at least." He chuckled cruelly. Her stomach dropped. There were a million and one things they could have planned for her, each one more horrible than the last.  
**~there is no way in hell that I am being caught again~** she thought and with a sudden burst of strength she pushed the man/boy off of her and threw him to the ground. He groaned as he hit the ground. She scrambled to her feet and ran on, ignoring the voices of the other men which were incredibly close. She turned into an ally way and found a dead end. She lent against the wall, trying to catch her breath. She could feel blood pouring down her body and it was slowly making her dizzy. She knew she couldn't take much more before fainting. She pushed herself off the wall and closed her eyes against the wave of dizziness that overcame her.  
**~I hope this works~** she thought as the men turned into the ally. She quickly span on the spot and wished with all her heart and might that she could be somewhere safe. She felt herself being pulled away and gave herself up to darkness.

In a park not too far away two young boys sat on swings, staring at the dirt in front of them. Both were sixteen years of age, both had messy black hair, were incredibly sexy with huge rippling muscle and killer smiles…  
_**"Sirius!" Ginny laughed. I chuckled  
"Sorry guys couldn't resist. But you all know I'm talking about James and Myself right?" they all nodded. I smiled and continued.  
**_  
"Do you think this year will be harder than last Padfoot?" James asked.  
"Dunno mate. It's not like we really try anyway." I turned to him.  
"True but it's our final year this year. You know that means N.E.W.T's and impossible amounts of homework." James answered leaning back and staring at the sky.  
"Ah but my dear friend that also means you can beg more help off of Miss Evans." I laughed as he brought up James love. James sat up and looked at him.  
"True true. I mean there is no better way than to ask a girl out to dinner when you're in the middle of studying." They laughed loudly.  
"So who has your eye this year Padfoot? Cindy? Lucy? Carly?" James asked leaning back again.  
"Na. there is only so much a man can take with the likes of them. I wouldn't mind someone more…"  
"Pretty?" James interrupted when his friend fell silent. I snorted.  
"There is nothing wrong with their looks thank you very much. I just wouldn't mind someone with a bit more…life." James burst out laughing.  
"Are you serious? 'A bit more life'? There is no one in the world with more life than those girls." He laughed. I let over and back handed him.  
"You know what I meant. I get bored with the dumb blondes and the lifeless convosation and besides the sex is …." I was interrupted by a loud cracking. We both jumped off the swings and pulled our wands out of our back pockets. Although we were both underage and it was against wizarding law that underage wizards do magic outside of school, we were both ready to fight if we deemed it necessary.  
"What the hell was that?" James whispered. I shook my head.  
"It sounded like someone Apparting." I whispered back.  
"But where?" James asked. I put my finger to my lips and pointing in the direction of a large where the noise came from. I frowned and moved forward slightly with James right behind me. I looked back at James as I reached it and James nodded. I blasted the bush out of the way….  
_**  
"You couldn't have blasted it out of the way! You would have been expelled from Hogwarts for doing magic outside school grounds." Hermione said interrupting the story. I rolled my eyes as did everyone in the room.  
"Okay, so I didn't blast it out of the way! I pushed it to the side…happy now? Golly, I was just trying to make it sound a little bit more interesting." Hermione blushed and nodded. I winked at her to let her know I was just kidding. **_

"I pushed the bush aside and rose my wand stun the person underneath it but to our amazement we found a still body. It was hard to make out what sex it was in the dark but as I crouched down and placed a hand on its back I felt the warm stickiness that was undoubtedly blood.  
"Shit." I mumbled.  
"What?" James asked leaning down next to my ear.

"They are covered in blood." James whistled lowly.  
"What do we do?" he asked.  
"You're going to help me carry into back into the light." I said standing up and moving to its feet. James sighed and walked over to pick it up under the arms.  
"Ready?" I asked grabbing its feet. James nodded then realised I couldn't see it so he mumbled "Yes."  
"Lift." I said. To their surprise, the body was light and almost weightless. They carried it into the light and saw that it was dressed in long cloak and its face was covered. But with that so, they could still see the dark patches of where the blood had seeped through. I nodded and they lowered it slowly onto a table nearby. James stood back and looked at me.  
"I suppose we should have a look at who we have here. You never know it might be someone we know." I said swallowing hard.  
"And if it's not?" James asked.  
"Then we'll leave it here and forget about it." James nodded and I swallowed hard again before pulling the cloak off their blood soaked companion. I gasped and James whistled again lowly…  
Lying in front of them was the most beautiful girl either of them had ever seen. She was around their age with pale skin that reflected the moon, blood red lips and long raven hair.

"_**Where do we find a girl like that Sirius?" Fred…I think…asked elbowing his twin who laughed.  
"Yeah I wouldn't mind having someone looking like that hanging off of my arm." I smiled.  
"Is she your wife Sirius?" Ginny asked.  
"If you listen and stop interrupting you will find out a lot quicker." I said. They bowed their heads.  
"Sorry." They all said. I chuckled and shook my head.**_

The only problem with the picture was that there was a huge bleeding scar running along her left cheek.  
"Wow. She is…" James said, the words losing themselves in his mouth.  
"Gorgeous." I finished. "Who the hell would so something like that to her?"  
"I dunno mate but we had better get her some help otherwise she might die. Come on let's take her to my place, mum will fix her." James said. I nodded and picked her up bridal style.  
"You lead the way and I'll carry her." he said. James nodded and walked on, pushing bushes out of the way and making sure I didn't trip down the side walk and into the gutter. We walked on in silence, more than likely both thinking of reasons why this gorgeous girl in our presence would be so violently attacked. Each conclusion from both our minds wilder than the next. We arrived at James house just in time. James opened the door and I made my way in.  
"Mum? MUM!" James screamed. James's mother, Rosie Potter hurried into the hallway.  
"Good god, what is that?" she said. Good old Rosie…she was always straight to the point.  
"It's a girl Mrs Potter. We found her in the park and she is covered in blood." I piped up. Rosie frowned and nodded.  
"Boys, carry her into Sirius's room while I fetch the medical book. Do not leave her." she barked. We nodded and carried her down the hall and enter the third door on the left. I laid her carefully on my bed and stepped back, watching her. Her cloak fell opened on her right side in the breeze from the open window. We gasped. She had a rather large tear out of her right side that was bleeding out onto the bed. She also had two large stab wounds in the middle of the tear that was very slowly dripping more crimson blood. But what drew our gasps from our throats was not the extent of her wounds or the amount of blood; it was the weapons attached to her waist and thigh. They consisted of four small guns and ammunition and six small silver daggers attached to her thigh. The tip of a large sword could also been seen.

"_**What the bloody hell would a girl be doing with all of th…?" Ron's exclamation trailed off at the end due to the look I was throwing him.  
"Sorry Sirius." He mumbled. Man, this story is going to take all frigging day if they don't stop interrupting.**_


	4. bloodstains and more confusions

"Whoa." James whispered.  
"Whoa is right. We should remove them before your mum returns." James nodded still staring at the weapons. I swallowed hard and stepped forward. I hesitated before touching them and looked over her. She must have been in a lot of danger to carry around something like that. I breathed deeply and grabbed the belt buckle. A hand reached out and grabbed me. I yelled and tried to pull it away. I looked down and saw it was the bloodied hand of the girl. I tried to pull away but she had a surprisingly strong grip. She pulled me closer to her, her eyes still closed and I crouched down with me ear close to her mouth, not by my choice. She gasped and splattered trying to tell me something but the words wouldn't come. The girl breathed out deeply and the grip on my arm loosened. I pulled away quickly and stepped back. The girl was unconscious again. I shook my head. **~what was that about? ~** I thought.  
"Quickly, I can hear mum coming." James hissed. I grabbed her belt and threw it under the bed. Mrs Potter bustled in with a large old looking book and a large pot of water with many bandages trailed in mid-air behind her.  
"Step back boys I fear there may be horrific wounds." She said crouching down next to the girl. I stood there still confused about what the girl had tried to say. James was concentrating on his mother. Mrs Potter slowly took off the cloak and leaned back. The girl was wearing a long black leather pants with soft slipper shoes and a long sleeved poet shirt with a red corset over it. A long gold chain fell out of her shirt and slid in the blood to the side. Now that Rosie had removed the cloak we could see the complete extent of her injuries. I felt my stomach heave and fought to keep my dinner down. The extent of her wounds made me cringe and gag. Besides of the tear on her side with the three bullet holes, she also had a large knife wound in her shoulder, a long cut down her leg that bled everywhere, the cut on her cheek and random cuts and bruises everywhere. Rosie shook her head.  
"Poor girl. I haven't seen wounds this bad in all my years."  
"But you can help her can't you Rosie?" I asked worried.  
"I'll try Sirius...I'll try." She sighed and rolled up her sleeves. "First things first we are going to have to do some Muggle style healing as I'm not that good, so I need you boys to bring me towels and a bowl of hot water each." James and I hastened to get what she asked of us. We arrived back to the room at the same time and ran to put the things down next to Rosie.  
"Thank you boys." She said, dipping a wash cloth into one of the basins. She wrung it out good and tight and placed it over the tear. It filled the cloth with blood almost instantly. Rosie frowned and reached over to open the big book. "Sirius can you came and hold this for me?" she asked. I looked at James who cringed with me. I swallowed loudly and walked over to the girl's side. Rosie grabbed my hand and put it on top of hers.  
"I'm going to slow remove my hand form underneath you ok?" I nodded. "And you have to hold it there with as much pressure as you can ok?" again I nodded.  
"Ready? One…Two….Three." she slid her hand out and I pressed mine down as hard as I could. Blood instantly stained my hands. I swallowed back the bile that threatened to rise and tried to breathe deeply. I got a mixture of the distinctive metallic smell of blood and a smell of something I had never smelt before. It smelt of wood and musk and…something I couldn't put my finger on. It sent shivers down my spine though I wasn't quite sure why.

_**"I'm not going to go into all the details, but basically Rosie fixed her up but some of the wounds like the one on her side and the one on her back…"  
"But you never said there was a wound on her back Sirius." Fred…I think… said frowning. His twin nodded.  
"Oh sorry, we also found another long slice up her back from her left hip to her right shoulder blade." They all looked horrified; Hermione's hands were on her mouth.  
"Anyway, the back and side couldn't be fixed by magic so she did it the old fashioned Muggle way with stitches and lots of bandages."  
"What kinda of creature could do that to someone?" Harry spat. I looked at him. He had a mask of horror and anger on his face. I sighed.  
"Someone that is sick and twisted and completely Deatheater." I said. They gasped.  
"Deatheater?" Ron asked. I shook my head.  
"We never knew who did it. We just guessed it was Death eaters." They nodded. I took a deep breath and continued.**_

Weeks past turning into months and the mystery girl hadn't moved a muscle. James and I hardly ever left her side except for food and of course natural calls. This particular day I was sitting on an old rocking chair, with my elbows on my knees and my head resting on my hands.  
"Who are you mystery girl?" I whispered to know one in particular for the umpteenth time. I looked at the chain around her neck that Rosie didn't take off. It was very old, gold and had a something hanging off of it. I looked at the girls pale face and slowly lifted it off of her. Marat was carved into a small locket in the shape of a coat of arms. It was a man and a lion walking side by side with the man wearing a crown with its hand on the lions head.

_**"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Hermione said excitedly. I sighed at the interruption.  
"Yes Hermione?" I asked knowing she wasn't going to calm down unless someone asked her what she was oh oh oh-ing about.  
"The Marat family is an incredibly powerful and famous family!" she said. Everyone rolled their eyes.  
"Come off it Hermione." George…I think…said.  
"No, she is right. If the wizarding world had a royal family they would have been it." Lupin said. Everyone hushed. That seemed to catch their attention.  
"I've never heard of them." Ron said.  
"That's because they were all wiped out years ago, right Sirius?" Everyone's attention was on me once more.  
"Look, I warned you guys this was a long story. You wanted to hear it from the beginning but if you keep interrupting me, it's going to take years." Hermione blushed. Lupin chuckled beside me.**_

I frowned. Where had I heard that before? A small groan filled the room. I looked up and saw the girl stirring. I jumped up, put the locket in my pocket and ran to the door.  
"James! She is waking up!" I yelled. I heard thundering footsteps as James tore around the corner. Rosie and Jensen (James Dad) were at work and we were under strict instructions to look after her and make sure her wounds were clean. I walked back over to the girl as James ran into the room. We stood next to her bed and watched as she breathed in deeply and move her head to the left. I raised an eyebrow at James who shrugged. Her eyebrows knitted together as she groaned and raised a hand to her head. I frowned and bit my lip. She moved her head so she was facing the ceiling and sighed. Her eyelids fluttered and she slowly opened her eyes. She blinked a few times and looked around, a scared look coming into her face. She rolled her head towards us and my breath caught in my throat. Her eyes were the bluest blue I had ever seen. They were so blue they didn't look real. They seemed to look straight into my soul. She gasped and pushed her herself as far away from us as she could. The girl yelled out in pain. I rushed over to help her but when I reached out to touch her she hissed and took a swipe at my arm. I pulled it back quickly and stepped back. .She had managed to leave three long scratches down my arm, one which had started to bleed. James did nothing but stare at her. She slowly moved into a crouching position so she could look at both of us. Even though she had just tried to take out my arm, I couldn't help but awe at her. Her pale skin reflected the light around her and it seemed like she was glowing, her long black hair was billowed out around her and her blue eyes held mine with such intense it made shivers go up my spine. Her blood red lips were grimaced in such a pained look it made my heart twinge. She was breathing quite heavily as well.  
"Say something." I mumbled to James.  
"What do I say?" he asked quietly. I rolled my eyes.  
"Anything!"  
"Why can't you do it?" he asked.  
"I tried to help her and she almost ripped my arm off! It's your turn." I replied pushing him forward a little bit.  
"It's ok. We won't hurt you." James said softly. She frowned at us. I raised an eyebrow.  
"We are friends." I said slowly as if speaking to a small child. She tilted her head to the side.  
"I don't think she understands us." James said walking back slowly til he got to my side.  
"Well done Prongs." I replied unable to stop myself from rolling my eyes. I turned back to the girl.  
"Can you understand us?" I asked. She shrunk back from us even more. "We…won't…hurt…you." She frowned even harder. I walked over to the table three feet away from her and filled the glass with water. I could feel her eyes burning into the back of my head. I walked back over to the bed and slowly handed her the glass. She slowly reached put and then snatched it from my hand. I stepped back in surprise. I had never seen anyone move so quickly. Hell I barely saw her move! Her eyes never left ours as she first sniffed the water before drinking it all down in one gulp. She clung to the glass when she was done as if it was a life line.  
"My name is Sirius." I pointed to myself. "And this is James." James waved slightly. She titled her head to the side again.  
"Well that proves it, she doesn't speak English." I looked back at James who nodded.  
"Come one, let's go downstairs and wait til mum gets home. She should be home soon." He started to walk to the door.  
"We will be back soon okay? Just try and get some rest. It will be okay. You're in safe hands." I whispered as I too slowly started towards the door. Her big blue eyes never left mine. I closed the door softly and let out a sigh.  
"Well that was weird. I wonder where she comes from." James said, walking down the stairs.  
"What I want to know is how the hell she ended up here." James nodded in agreement in front of me.  
"And who the bloody hell did that to her." We walked into the kitchen. I walked over to the sink and ran the cold water over my arm.  
"Feisty little minx isn't she though?" I said chuckling as I turned off the tap and wrapped a tea towel around it.  
"Bloody hell! I didn't think she actually got you!" James said walking over to pull the tea towel off of it and to have a decent look. The three marks she left was now red and still bleeding slightly.  
"Merlin's beard! She got you good didn't she?" he chuckled. I slapped him upside the head.  
"A little bit of sympathy would be appreciated." He chuckled and rubbed his head.  
"Oh you're just grumpy because a girl beat you up. Wait til I tell Remus that the great womanizer Sirius Black got beat up by a scared starved little girl with long nails." I glared at him.  
"Don't you dare!" I hissed.  
"Or else what?" He smirked at me. I loved James as a brother I really did but sometimes I just wanted to smack his face off.  
"Or else I will tell Lily you have a Muggle disease down there that won't go away and it's highly contagious. I chuckled as the smirk slipped off his face.  
""Fine, spoil sport." He huffed. I grinned and unwrapped the tea towel. The bleeding had finally stopped thank Merlin but now it was starting to be quite painful.  
"I wish we knew more about her. Even if it was just her name." James said breaking the silence. I pulled out the necklace from my pocket and held it up.  
"I forgot to tell you. I pulled this off of her before she went nuts. Ring a bell?" James reached out and took it and held it up to the light.  
"Marat. Why does that ring a bell?" he frowned at it. I shrugged.  
"I don't know but I remember hearing it before as well. Maybe Moony will know….wait a minute. Isn't he supposed to be coming over today?" I asked as the memory suddenly hit me.  
"Ah crap! I totally forgot!" he looked over at the large clock on the wall. "He will be here in like an hour in fact." I sighed.  
"Well maybe he can help us out. He is more of a people person than we are." I rubbed my face.  
"Do you think we should go and…" suddenly a loud crashing sound rang from upstairs. James and I looked at each other and tore upstairs. I flung open the door and stopped in the door way. The girl was standing by the side table looking at her hand. It was cut open and bleeding everywhere. The broken water jug lay at her feet. Without thinking I ran over to her and grabbed her hand, careful not to hurt her. She tried to pull away with a frightened look on her face, but this time I held on.  
"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you." I said softly, grabbing a cloth and wrapping it tightly around the wound to stop it from bleeding and holding it place with mine. She looked up at me strangely. I smiled at her, unable to think of anything. Her eyes really blew me away. I don't think I have ever seen anything so blue or so beautiful.  
"I'll go get mum's book to heal it." James piped up, shaking me from my thoughts. I nodded and he turned on his heel and flew out of the room.


	5. Remus arrives

"Does it hurt?" I asked, not really expecting an answer but I felt I ought to break the silence someway. I had always hated silence and sitting here with a total stranger… a totally hot stranger who didn't speak English was a really awkward situation. She shook her head slightly. I raised my eyebrows.  
"You can understand me?" I asked, excitedly. Maybe now we can know her name. She frowned and titled her head to the side, which I have to say strictly between you and me was the cutest thing I had ever seen. Sounds weird I know but the she looked so innocent and childlike. It's hard to explain.  
"Hmm I guess not." I mumbled, all excitement leaving me as quickly as it came. I sighed.  
"It's all good. We'll fix you up good as new, you'll see. Does anything else hurt?" I asked looking her over. She was a head or so shorter than me with one leg rinsed slightly off the ground. ~_**Must hurt her to put weight in it. ~**_ I looked back at her.  
"Does anything else hurt?" I asked again slower this time. She frowned deeper at me. I sighed, confused and angry at the lack of communication. James rushed back into the room holding the large book and slightly out of breath.  
"Take your time much?" I said.  
"Sorry, couldn't find it." He panted, placing it on the table and flipping through it trying to find the right page.  
"Here it is 'Wounds, Bumps and blood'. Wait, can we do magic?" he said suddenly looking up at me.  
"I'm seventeen in a month and you are seventeen in two and we are in a wizard's house. I don't see how they can pin it on us." I replied not really caring about the rules at this moment. "Besides, I'm pretty such your mum would kill us if she came home and this one was dead." I nodded my head at the girl.  
"True." James looked back at the book. "It says here to run your wand over the cut three times while saying '_restituo vulnus'_ and that should get rid of anything foreign out of it before healing it. Hmm odd spell."  
"Do you want to do it or should I?" I asked.  
"You can do it." James said. I rolled my eyes and slowly unwrapped her hand. She looked down in curiosity. I pulled out my wand and suddenly she freaked out. She gasped and tried to pull away. I frowned and gripped her wrist harder. She whimpered and tried to pull away, which made the wound start to bled again.  
"Hey hey hey! Calm down. I'm only going got fix it." She shook her head and a few tears fell down her face as she continued to try to pull away from us. She made it really hard to hold on. She was turning and twisting and crying and pulling. It was like I had just pulled out a gun instead of my wand.  
"James, can you hold her or something? She is making the cut worse." James stood up and wrapped his arms around her shoulders to hold her still. She cowered away and pushed against James, getting as far as she could from the wand.  
"It's okay. He is just going to make the cut go away. We won't hurt you." James kept whispering over and over. She closed her eyes tightly and whimpered as I placed the tip of my wand to the wound, my heart aching at the state we had put her in.  
"restituo vulnus" I said running my wand over it softly three times. The glass rose out of the wound and fell to the ground before the wound started to knit over itself til it was completely gone. I stepped back and put my wand away.

"Let her go James." I whispered. James let the girl go and he too stepped back. The girl slowly opened her eyes and looked at me before looking down at her hand. She stared at it in amazement, turning it over and stroking it with her other hand as if amazed it was still there. She looked up at me and bowed her head slightly. I took it as her way of saying thank you.  
"You're welcome." I said smiling slightly. The girl stumbled back and held her head. James and I rushed forward at the same time. I reached out and grabbed her just before she hit the ground. She looked up, deep into my eyes. My breath caught in my throat. She was just so…stunning. They defiantly didn't make them like this at Hogwarts…or anywhere else I have ever been. I don't know what it was about her. She was just so…pure. She opened her mouth and….

"_**I'm stopping it right there." I said, leaning back. Groans of protest filled the small room.  
"You can't do that!"  
"What did she say?"  
"Come on Sirius that's just mean!"  
I chuckled and waved my hands for silence.  
"All will be revealed just as soon as I grab something to eat. I'm starving! "I stood up and stretched. The kids groaned and mumbled under their breath but stood as well. I chuckled. We walked into the kitchen to find Molly cooking a large batch of what smelled like Chicken and Onion soup.  
"There you all are! Where have you been?" She asked.  
"Sirius has been telling us a story." Ginny said.  
"A bloody good one so far too." George added.  
"Aren't you children a little old for stories?" Molly asked, putting her hands on her hips.  
"Actually I've been telling them after Ella." I said quietly pulling out a chair. Molly dropped her hands and looked shocked.  
"Wh…are you okay with that?" She asked, a look of worry splashing across her face. I nodded.  
"Yeah, it's actually nice to talk about her for once." Harry sat next to me and Hermione sat on the other side.  
"Did you know…what was her name again Sirius?" Harry turned to me.  
"We called her Ella." I replied.  
"Did you know Ella Mrs Weasley?" Harry asked turning to face Molly.  
"Oh yes. She was a wonderful, kind, gorgeous person with a heart of a lion and the soul of a saint."  
Molly dabbed her eyes on her apron.  
"What happened to her?" Hermione whispered.  
"You'll have to wait and see. Sirius told you it would be a long story but you insisted so now you can wait." Remus said. I smiled at him and he winked. I knew he was going through the same emotions as I was right now. He had been very close to Ella. I knew he missed her almost as much as I did. I'm sure most people missed her. This was the first time in fifteen years I had spoken of her to anyone including myself. It was kinda nice to let other people in on our story, but I knew later down the track it was going to get harder and harder.  
"Are you okay?" Remus mumbled as the kids talked amongst themselves.  
"Yeah, I'm just thinking of the ending." He patted my shoulder.  
"I'll be here to help if you need me." I smiled slightly.  
"Thanks mate."  
"Who wants soup?" Molly said. We all raised our hands. She waved her wand and sent the soup flying into bowls which landed perfectly and neatly in front of us.  
"Yum Molly, this soup in delicious!" I said after swallowing my first mouthful. She smiled and blushed.  
"It's nothing, just a little soup."  
"What was she…Ella I mean… like Sirius?" Hermione asked hesitantly after a few minutes of silence. I sighed.  
"She was a lot like you Hermione and you Harry. In fact now that I think of it, she was probably a mixture of everyone here." I took another mouthful and swallowed before continuing.  
"She was very smart, like you Hermione." Hermione sat a little straighter in her chair. "She was brave and head strong, like you Harry." He grinned in his soup. "She was very fond and every good at pulling practical jokes and had a wild sense of humour." Fred and George grinned at each other. "She was always a very loyal and a very amazing best friend." Ron went red. I grinned at them.  
"What about me?" Ginny piped up. I chuckled.  
"She never let anyone boss her around or tell her what to do just because she was a girl. She was her own person and let everyone know." Remus went on as I unable to.  
"She was also a very good cook and incredibly motherly." Molly added over by the stove. "She always kept you boys in line." Remus and I laughed.  
"Only sometimes. Most times she was in detention with us." Remus laughed. "Remember when you had a cold Sirius?" I chuckled.  
"Oh Merlin! The silly woman wouldn't leave me alone!" I looked at the kids who were staring at me. "I had the flu and she made me take a week off classes to get over it and spend it in the hospital wing. She brought me soup; toast anything to help me get better, including my homework. She annoyed the crap out of Madam Mislay who was the nurse back then from memory." We laughed. "When I was vomiting, she was there rubbing my back and pulling my hair back, when I had a fever she made me sweat it out." The laughter fell from my face as I remembered. "She even stayed every night when the fever hit me, just so I wouldn't be alone, even though she was warned she would catch it. But bless her soul, she refused to leave. Sure enough, she got it and she got it worse than I did. But even then she still made sure I was alright before she would rest or take the potion." I smiled. "She was special like that." silence echoed around the kitchen as we lost ourselves in memories and imagination.  
"So I am guessing that you guys would like to hear more of the tale then?" I said forcing a smile on my face.  
"Oh yes please." Hermione and Ginny yelled. The boys just nodded eagerly.  
"I don't think I've ever heard you guys so interested in history or a story for that matter." Molly said serving up large helpings of apple pie and ice cream to everyone.  
"It's a good story! This girl sounds amazing." Fred said.  
"She was. Defiantly one of a kind, my Ella was. Thanks Molly. Now where was I?" I frowned.  
"You stopped her from hitting the floor and the strangest thing happen. She opened her mouth and…" Hermione said quickly. I chuckled lightly.  
"Ah yes. Everyone ready?" They all nodded. Molly smiled and pulled up a chair to join us. I winked at her and took a deep breath.  
She opened her mouth and...The doorbell rang. She closed her mouth and looked horrified towards the door, eyes wide with fear. I frowned. Was she going to speak? I gently guided her back to the bed. She lay down and pulled the covers up to her chin. I looked at James but he was already gone to get the door. **_

"_**It's okay. It is probably our friend Remus. He is harmless." I said to her. She tilted her head and frowned, still looking fearful. I sighed. I wish I knew who did this to her so I could go and hunt them down. No one should be this scared when they are safe. I heard footsteps up the stairs and the girl cowered again. The door opened and James walked in followed closely by Remus.  
"Want to take over from here? You could give it another insight?" I asked looking at Remus. Remus smiled and nodded.  
"Alright. If that's okay with everyone?" Everyone nodded. He grinned and cleared his throat.**_

**Remus's POV**

I walked into the room and was struck by a very strange sight. Sirius was standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by broken glass and there was a strange girl I had never seen before staring at me with obvious fear from the bed. I was struck by her icy blue eyes, the bluest blue I had ever seen before.  
"Umm, do I want to know?" I nodded towards the girl. Sirius chuckled and reached out to shake my hand. I accepted it and we hugged.  
"It's not what you think I swear. We found her about two months ago." Sirius sighed. I frowned.  
"You...found her?" I asked not sure I believed my ears. James nodded.  
"We were down the park, heard a loud crack, decided to investigate and found a body. We picked it up and carried it into the light ad saw it was covered in blood; we pulled of the cloak on her face and saw it was her. So we brought here back here and mum fixed her up."  
"Fixed her up?" I was so confused and lost by now.  
"She had been attacked, quite badly to the point where this is the first time since we found her she has actually been conscience." my eyebrows rose.  
"What happened to her?" I asked horrified that anyone would want to hurt her so badly.  
"We don't know, she hasn't said anything. We don't even know her name." Sirius looked over at her. Her eyelids were fluttering, but he seemed to be fighting it, not wanting to be asleep around us obviously. I looked at Sirius. There was something strange and new about him but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. It had something to do with the girl.  
"What were her wounds?" I asked, not really wanting to know.  
"She had a large stab wound in her shoulder, a long cut down her leg that bled everywhere, a cut on her cheek, bruises up and down here whole body and a tear on her side with two bullet holes in it." Sirius said, not looking away from the girl as she gave up her war with sleep. He walked over and carefully pulled up the blankets to her chin and stroked her hair away from her face.  
"Merlin's beard! Why would someone do something like that?" I said more to myself as I to watch her sleep.  
"Someone sick and twisted and just plain evil." I smiled slightly at him. He turned around and saw my smile.  
"What?" he asked walking back over to us.  
"You like her." I said. Sirius blushed and looked at the ground.  
"Don't be a tosser Remus. I don't know her." He said clearing his throat. I looked over at James who grinned.  
"Oh come on Sirius. You're always in here looking at her and you made it up here pretty fast when we heard the glass break." He winked at me. "I would say you're in love."

"Oh sod off you twats! I don't even know the girl!" Sirius yelled spinning around to glare at us. James and I laughed.  
"The reason why we gave it to Sirius is because it was the only time we had ever seen him care so much for one girl." Remus explained.  
"Oh geez thanks Moony. Way to go and make me sound like a man whore." I said hitting him upside the head.  
"I don't think you're a man whore." Hermione said. I smiled at her.  
"Thank you Hermione." I turned to Remus. "See? I'm not that bad."  
"Maybe not now but back then you were…different." The children laughed  
"Just shut up and continue with the story." I sighed and sat back in a huff.

A/N: Restituo vulnus – repair the wound


	6. huh?

"Come on let's let her be. She needs rest to heal." With one last look at her Sirius turned and we headed back down stairs. I looked back just in time to see him smile softly as he shut the door. He turned and saw me looking and I swear he blushed.  
"What?" He asked. I held up my hands in defence.  
"Nothing mate. Nothing."  
"What are you going to do when we go back to Hogwarts?" I asked as we re-entered the kitchen.  
"Shit…didn't think of that did we Sirius?" James said opening the fridge and pulling out three butterbeers.  
"Rosie will look after her surely?" I asked pulling out a chair at the bench.  
"I'll be looking after her." Sirius piped up. I spat out a bit of my butterbeers.  
"Are you crazy? We go back in two weeks man! You have to go!" James practically screamed at Sirius.  
"James is right Sirius. This is our final year. You can't just drop out now." He sighed and put down his butterbeers.  
"Look, I don't know how to explain it or even say it out loud properly but I feel somewhat…. Connected to her. And before you call my queer or insane I'm deadly serious. There is just something about her that is pulling on all my heart strings!" He started to pace, looking at the ground. "I was so mad when we found her and I had no idea why! I was so worried about her I still am! And there is just something that makes me want to protect her from the world." He stopped and looked at us. Silence filled the kitchen for what seemed eternity. Finally I sighed.  
"I'm sure if you explain all this to Dumbledore he will let you start later." And before Sirius could say another word a large brown tawny owl ran into the window. Sirius hurried to open the window and the bird flew in and landed in the fruit bowl, looking a bit worse for wear. I frowned. Sirius went to shut the window again but I stopped him.  
"Wait! I think there are more coming." I pointed to the three dots flying towards us.  
"Who are they from?" James asked. Sirius left the window open and walked over to the first owl and plucked the letter out of his mouth.  
"Speak of the devil. It's from Hogwarts." He said turning it over. The three dots came into view. They were owls. One was white, one was black and the other was another tawny owl. They fly in and dropped their letters on the floor before flying back out. The first owl joined them in great haste.  
"Are they all from Hogwarts?" I asked as James bent down to pick up the fallen letters.  
"If they are all from Hogwarts, then why are there four?" Sirius asked.  
"Because two of them are for her." James said looking up at us.

"_**I'm sorry children but I have to stop you there." Molly interrupted. It was followed by loud groans of protest.  
"Hey now stop that! We are going to visit your father. The story will be there when you get back right Sirius?" Molly turned at me. I nodded.  
"Of course it will. Besides I think me and Moony here need a breather." The Weasley children and Hermione all groaned and moaned as they got up and left.  
"We'll be back in an hour or two.' Molly said. I winked and nodded. I turned to Harry.  
"Aren't you going?" he looked at me with a confused look.  
"I don't understand?" Harry asked. I raised an eyebrow at him.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well she doesn't speak English, she sort of just appeared out of know where and no one knows nothing about her accept a necklace so how did Hogwarts know about her?" I smiled.  
"You're forgetting Dumbledore's eerie way of knowing about everything." I said widening my eyes and waving my hands about. He chuckled.  
"Rosie, we found out later, had spoken to Dumbledore about her and were in continuous communications with him about her. Apparently Dumbledore was very interested in her." He nodded.  
"Who wouldn't be interested in a girl like that?" he joked. I chuckled.  
"She was a Marat." Remus said. "And like you said, she obviously wasn't from England or any other English speaking countries and she appeared out of know where. Of course Dumbledore would be interested in her." Harry stood up.  
"I really hope this has a happy ending. It's too good of a story to end badly." He smiled and left. I sighed.  
"It doesn't get any easier does it?" Remus asked. I shook my head.  
"Not one bit. Who ever said time heals all wounds obviously was never in love." He clapped me on the back.  
"Come on you sop story. I'll buy you a drink." I sighed and stood up.  
"Sounds perfect."**_

**Remus's POV**

I looked at James.  
"What?" I said looking at Sirius who was mirroring my stunned look.  
"One is for her." James repeated holding it up.  
"Does it say her name?" I asked as Sirius reached forward and snatched the letter out of James hand. He shook his head.  
"Typical Dumbledore. He never is straight forward." Sirius said passing the letter to me. On it, in the green cursive writing we knew so well was '_Miss Marat, Sirius's bedroom Godric's Hollow_. 'I sighed.  
"Well that doesn't help the situation." James shook his head and took a swing of his butterbeer. I turned to Sirius who seemed to be off in his own little world.  
"Sirius? You ok?" James asked waving a hand in front of his face. He shook his head and looked at us.  
"What?" He asked. I chuckled.  
"You sort of went off into your own world."  
"Oh I'm just trying to think of the Marat family history we learnt about." The kitchen fell dead silent. I never thought I would see the day that Sirius Black tried to remember his classes. I looked at James who looked at me and then we did the only thing we could. We burst out laughing.  
"Oh sod off you twats. " Sirius said blushing a dull red. "I'm trying to remember any names. Maybe one of them is her." I wiped the tears from my eyes and shook my head.  
"Sirius, the Marat family history we learnt about was around two hundred years ago…if she is from then, then she is doing well for her age." James snorted and sighed.  
"Face it guys, we won't know her name until she tells us." Sirius sighed.  
"I guess you're right. I just don't like calling her it or that girl or girl." I patted his shoulder.  
"There is still three weeks til we go back to school. You never know maybe you'll find out here name." I said. Sirius obviously cared a lot about this girl and I myself was quite intrigued about her situation and wanted to know as much as I could about her as well.

"_**Over the next week, we saw the girl's wounds improve greatly. She could move with only a little bit of stiffness and seemed to calm down around us. She still flinched whenever she saw our wands or we moved to suddenly but overall she was getting better. She also seemed to understand us a little bit more. She never spoke or made a sound but whenever we asked questions she nodded or shook her head so we took that as a good sign." Remus said. I smiled and looked around at the kids. It was a few days after they had brought Arthur home and it was the first real time we had a chance to sit down and continue the story. They had begged us to continue before but both Remus and I agreed to let them spend time with Arthur. Molly, I think, appreciated it as well. Now, we were in the living area near the fire with the children sitting at Remus's and mine feet. It was like they were at school again and listening to story time. This time we were joined by Molly and Arthur who sat on the couch behind the children, holding hands. Molly was resting her head on Arthur's shoulder and they were both smiling. I knew that they missed her as well. They didn't know the beginning and how we met her and what not but they had known her and loved her like everyone and to my surprise were quite interested in the beginning story. Hermione frowned and put up her hand. I chuckled and nodded at her.  
"How did she heal so fast? I mean logically she shouldn't have been able to move with the wounds she had anyway and she shouldn't have been able to get better so quickly." I looked at Remus, indicating he should answer.  
"We didn't understand it either. Rosie was the most shocked I think. She kept coming out of the room shaking her head and muttering and whenever we asked what was wrong she would simple say 'I don't understand how someone can heal so fast.' None of us could."  
"It was a good thing in many ways though." I said.  
"How?" Harry asked frowning. "It just caused another mystery didn't it?" I nodded slowly.  
"Yes…but it also meant that I didn't have to worry so much about her and also there was no chance of an infection or something else to happen." He nodded. Remus turned to me.  
"Your turn. You know the next part better than me." I chuckled and clapped his shoulder.**_

"_**If you insist."**_


	7. Esmerelda ella

It was a week before Hogwarts and I was in the kitchen making myself a large sandwich filled with anything I could find. James and Remus were out at Diagon Alley picking up school supplies for all of us…including hers. We still don't know her name which was getting more and more frustrating. But still she was getting better and didn't seem to fear us much so I was happy. I grinned at my triple Decker sandwich and grabbed my plate, her plate where a large ham and cheese sandwich sat and the two bottle of butterbeer and carefully walked up the stairs. I slowly opened the door and to my amazement she was sitting on the window ledge with her arms around her knees and her head resting on them. I stopped and looked over her. The soft sun reflected off of her raven air and it fell in waves down her legs. The light pink nightie she wore made her skin look even darker. She looked up when the door creaked and I was graced by one of her marvellous smiles. Her blue eyes glowed and seemed to light up when she saw me; they looked a lot brighter compared to the navy blue of the dressing gown wrapped around her. I mentally shook myself. Now I was seeing things but boy was she beautiful. I walked over to the table and put down the food and drinks.  
"I thought you might be hungry so I brought you a ham and cheese sandwich and a butterbeer. " She nodded her head and carefully stretched out her legs and climbed down from the windowsill. I reached out to help her as I saw she was wincing and she shook her head. I smiled and let my arm drop to my side. She was a stubborn little thing. Always wanting to do things her way and she seemed very determined to do everything herself. She carefully sat down on the bed and crossed her legs. I passed her plate and bottle over to her and she smiled at me in thanks.  
"So, are you feeling better than yesterday?" I asked sitting in the chair at the table, giving her some room but still close enough to help if she needed it. She nodded and took a big bite out of her sandwich. I smiled and took a bite out of mine. She tilted her head at mine. I looked at it than at her.  
"What?" I asked swallowing my mouthful. She licked her lips and stared at it. I laughed and stood up. I walked over and gave her my plate. She looked oddly at me.  
"Go on, try it." I said softly. She reached out and grabbed it smiling at me. She took a large bite and sighed softly, closing her eyes.  
"You like that?" I asked chuckling at the content look on her face. She opened her eyes and nodded, looking like an excited kid. I sighed and grabbed her plate. She tilted her head at me.  
"You can have it. I'll swap with you." She smiled again and took another bite. We sat there in comfortable silence for a while enjoying our lunch. I have to admit though, the old plain old ham and cheese wasn't as good as my one, but whatever made her happy. I sighed and put down the plate, washing the last bit of sandwich down with a swig of butterbeer. I looked over at the girl who had finished the sandwich a while ago. I kept getting side tracked by watching her.  
"What's your name?" I mumbled. "I hate calling you that girl or girl." I was always saying this to her. I sort had a habit of talking out loud around her. She must think I'm a loony.  
"Esmerelda." I heard a soft voice. My head snapped up and I stared at her.  
"What did you say?" I asked. She smiled.  
"My name is Esmerelda." She repeated, her voice was soft and sweet with a hint of an accent I couldn't place. I felt my jaw drop.

_**"So it is your wife!" Ginny shouted. I smiled and nodded.  
"Now that you know I guess we don't have to go on right Remus?" I said turning to him. He chuckled.  
"I guess not." We were hit with a wave of protest.  
"Please Sirius! I want to hear how you two started dating." Hermione said. I nodded.  
"I guess I can finish the tale." They cheered and I couldn't help but chuckle.**_

"You…you speak English?" I asked. She nodded. "You could understand us this whole time?" She nodded again. I leant back in the chair.  
"Wow…why didn't you say anything?" I leant forward. She looked at the bed and smiled.  
"I didn't think it was necessary for me to say anything." She said.  
"Not necess…are you serious? We have been wondering your name and what happened to you ever since we found you!" I pretty much yelled at her. Esmerelda looked up and frowned.  
"Found me?" She asked.  
"Yes! We found you a few months ago! You were lying behind a bush covered in blood and all sorts of wounds."  
"I always wondered how I got here." She muttered.  
"Well if you asked we could have told you!" I said.  
"I am sorry I kept quiet. I…I am not good around strangers. Not talking for so long is sort of a habit now." She mumbled. I felt guilty for being mad now.  
"Please don't be mad." She looked up at me and I melted then and there in the chair. She had the saddest look on her face. I wanted to run over to her and hug her.  
"I'm not mad. Just confused why you didn't say something earlier but I am glad I know your name now. It's nice to meet you Esmerelda." I felt so good to say it. It really rolled of the tongue. She smiled.  
"It's nice to meet you to Sirius." Esmerelda said. I felt a whooping sensation in my stomach. I rather liked the way she said my name. Suddenly the door opened and in came James and Remus, dragging bags of stuff behind them.  
"I hate shopping." James said throwing himself in a chair next to me. Esmerelda pushed herself back and pulled her knees up once again. She didn't seem to fully trust us all. Maybe that is why she kept silent for so long. Remus nodded to me and walked back out of the room.  
"Busy?" I asked dragging my eyes away from Esmerelda.  
"It was like the whole wizarding world was there today. It was insane." James rubbed his hand over his face.  
"Hello Lady. Good to see you're moving more." He said. It was custom for him to say that every time he saw her. I looked at Esmerelda who smiled.  
"Hello James." She said. I grinned and looked at James who shot up.  
"What was that?" He shouted. She looked at the bed again.  
"I said hello James. That is your name no?" James looked at me to her and back at me again wearing an expression close to a stunned fish.  
"She….you…she spoke!" he stuttered. I chuckled.  
"Yep. Apparently she could understand everything we said." I said turning as Remus re-entered the room.  
"What happened?" he asked looking around at us and coming to a stop on James stunned look.  
"She…she..." James stuttered.  
"She what?" Remus turned to the girl. "She is alright isn't she?"  
"I am fine thank you Remus." Esmerelda said. Remus's jaw dropped.  
"You speak English?" He asked.  
"Quite well actually." She replied. I laughed. So she had a sense of humour as well. Interesting.  
"I don't get it. Why didn't you speak before?" He asked.  
"I have issues talking around large groups. Being silent for most of my life leaves a mark. I am sorry." She bowed her head. Remus smiled at her.

"What do we call you then?" He asked.  
"Esmerelda." She replied.  
"It is a pleasure to meet you Esmerelda." Remus said bowing slightly. I noticed a soft blush creep to her cheeks and thought it was the cutest thing in the world.  
"Like wise Remus."  
"Oh James close your mouth, you'll catch something." I said whacking him in the stomach. He closed his mouth and shook his head.  
"Sorry…it's just weird hearing her...I mean Esmerelda talk." He said sitting down again. Esmerelda giggled. I felt another swoop in my stomach. What the hell was wrong with me?  
"I need a butterbeer before I continue. Anyone else?" James stood up again. I nodded.  
"Cheers mate." Remus said also nodding.  
"Esmerelda?" James asked. She shook her head, going all shy and silent again.  
"Ah no don't go mute again. I think you owe us an explanation." James said.  
"James! Give the girl a break!" Remus said frowning at our stupid friend. He turned and looked at us.  
"I don't mean to be rude but don't you think we deserve one?"  
"You're right James. I shall tell you what I can when you get back." Esmerelda said. He nodded and walked out.  
"You don't have to if you don't want to." I said quietly to her. She turned her blue eyes on me and again my stomach swooped. Maybe I should get it checked out.  
"I know that and thank you but James is right. I do owe you all something. After everything you have down for me." She smiled softly and I smiled back. So far, I liked Esmerelda. She was defiantly one of a kind.  
James came back into the room carrying four more butter beers and a couple bags of chips.  
"In case we got hungry." He said in answer to the funny look Remus and I threw at him. I shook my head and sighed.  
"Excuse James, he is lesser intelligent of us all." I muttered to Esmerelda who giggled softly. I sighed at her. She really was gorgeous and I don't mean your average girl down the street gorgeous I meant heart stopping angel like gorgeous, one of those girls who would stop a man dead in his tracks and make him swoon. Okay so I admit it I might have been smitten by her nothing to seriously though. I simply admired the way she looked. Or so I told myself.  
"So, Esmerelda, I do believe you owe us a story." James said pulling up a chair so we were surrounding her. She swallowed loudly and took a few deep breathes. I frowned at how nervous she looked. She really didn't like people crowding her.  
"Yes, of course. What do you want to know?" She asked quietly.  
"Where are you from?" I asked, thinking easy questions were the best.  
"And how did you get here?" Remus asked.  
"And why were you so badly hurt?" James added. I sighed. So much for going easy on her. She took a deep breathe.  
"I was born and raised in Romania but have been travelling around the world since I was very little. I ended up here as I was being chased by some men and turned into a dead end ally and closed my eyes and thought of a place that they wouldn't find me and that I would be safe. I don't remember anything after that other than waking up here."  
"Why were they chasing you?" I asked. She shook her head.  
"I don't know. I was minding my own business and suddenly was attacked."  
"We found you in the park covered in blood." James piped up who for the first time in his life seemed stunned into silence. Esmerelda sighed.  
"They weren't very friendly men."  
"Clearly. Do you remember anything else?" I asked. She frowned.  
"I remember hearing voices and someone burning me." I turned to James who looked horrified.  
"Who burned you?" he asked.  
"It must have been your mum James when she was cleaning the wounds." Remus said. Esmerelda turned to him.  
"Yes, I remember a female's voice." She stared off into some distance world. "And I remember someone brushing my hair away and whispering to me. I thought I was in heaven." I blushed slightly. As much as I wanted her to know it was me, the teasing and taunting I would cop off James was too great to put up with. Esmerelda suddenly stiffed.  
"Someone is coming." She muttered shrinking back. I opened my mouth to say something when the door opened. We all jumped and looked at the person. It was Rosie.  
"Ah hello boys, I thought you would be in here. And hello young lady how are you feeling?" I turned to Esmerelda who visible sighing in relief. She nodded.  
"Still not talking aye? Poor thing must have gone through hell." Rosie sighed and shook her head. I opened my mouth to tell her that she can talk but I saw out of the corner of my eye Esmerelda shaking her head ever so slightly. I closed it again just in time for James to open up his mouth.  
"Well see that's the good news mum. We…"  
"Decided to give her a name." I interrupted. James spun around on his seat to throw me a 'what the hell?' look. I shook my head at him.  
"Oh really? How wonderful! And what do we call her now?" Rosie asked seemingly oblivious to James's and mine little interaction. Damn! I didn't think that far ahead. Esmerelda didn't want her to know her name, that much was clear but I couldn't think of a name suitable for her.  
"Ella." Remus piped up suddenly. We all looked at him, including Esmerelda.  
"Ella?" Rosie asked. Remus nodded.  
"She just looks like an Ella." He said looking at her. She smiled and bowed her head at him.  
"Well I think Ella is perfect. Now boys, I would like a moment alone with Ella to check her over. There are doughnuts downstairs." James jumped up.  
"Oh yummy!" I looked confused at him.  
"What the hell is a doughnut?" He rolled his eyes at me.  
"Only the greatest food the Muggles ever invented. Come on you have to try it." I looked back at Esmerelda as I made my way to the door. Rosie was sitting next to her, looking through a large medical kit. She smiled and nodded, letting me know she would be fine. I smiled and winked before closing the door. What a day!


	8. day of hogwarts

"_**Okay, break time." I said stopping the story.  
"Oh what? It's just getting good!" Ron said loudly. I chuckled and shook my head.  
"I need to get up and stretch or something. My arse has gone numb." I stood up and cracked my back. "Besides, it's a good place to stop. Nothing else really happened. We just got to know her a bit better."  
"Oh I think it's so romantic." Hermione said sighing. "I can't wait to hear about you falling in love."  
"Yeah Sirius you big softie. Who would have known you would be one to fall in love?" Fred said cackling as he walked out of the room. I aimed a swipe at him but he danced out of the way. I chuckled and shook my head. Cheeky bugger he was. They all filed out to do something or other all except Harry.  
"Sirius?" he asked in his thoughtful way.  
"Yes ma boy?" I asked sensing a troubled mind.**_

"_**I was wondering, since she was your wife and she knew my dad, did she know my mum?" I sighed.**_

"_**Oh yes. As you will find out later on in the story, Lily and Esmerelda became inseparable. In fact, if it wasn't for Ella I don't think Lily would ever have gotten the courage to say yes to James." I smiled at the memories.**_

"_**One more thing?" He asked. I nodded indicating he could go on.**_

"_**What was she…to me I mean? Seeing she was your wife and all and you are my godfather." I sighed. I knew this would come up.**_

"_**She was your godmother Harry." I couldn't lie to him. "Your parents asked us both pretty much as soon as Lily found out she was pregnant. Ella couldn't be happier. She brought you your first crib and rocker and she would sit for hours on end playing with you or hugging you when you were a baby. You used to call her 'Ewa.'" I laughed. Harry smiled sadly.**_

"_**What happened to her?" I swallowed loudly.**_

"_**You'll have to wait ma boy!" I said with fake cheerfulness. I wasn't quite ready to tell the ending just yet. I was hoping by the time it came along I would be ready. Otherwise I would defiantly have a very upset crowd. **_

"_**Okay Sirius." Harry stood up and smiled. "She sounded really awesome."**_

"_**Yeah Harry. She really was." I muttered. He clapped my shoulder and followed the rest out. I sat back down and sighed. **_

"_**I miss you." I mumbled into nothingness as tears pricked my eyes. "I miss you so much." The rest of the group began filing in again. I hurriedly wiped my eyes on my sleeve.**_

"_**Can you tell us a little bit more before mum sends us to bed?" Ginny asked. I forced a smile and nodded. **_

"_**Just a little bit more." They all sat down again and I took a deep breath. As much as I loved the kids, I would be very glad when they went to bed. **_

Rosie walked out and carefully closed the door just as I got to the top of the stairs.

"How is she?" I asked. Rosie smiled.

"She will be fine to go to Hogwarts next week. She is truly a medical miracle." She shook her head and started to walk downstairs.

"Can I see her?" she turned and smiled softly at me.

"Of course, but she quite tired still so not to long." I nodded and opened the door carefully. Ella was curled up under the blankets in her bed with her eyes closed. I shut the door behind me and she started awake.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." I whispered. A huge smile broke across her face and she carefully sat up.

"It's okay. Come in." she said. "I was hoping you would come back." I smiled and pulled up a chair near the bed.

"So, I hear you'll be fine to go to Hogwarts next week." She sighed.

"Hogwarts." She looked at me. "Tell me more about it?" I couldn't help but laugh. When we first told her about Hogwarts and gave her the letter (which was considerably thicker than ours) she was first shocked, then scared then excited. Now I think she was a little nervous.

"I have told you everything I know about it Esmerelda." She sighed and looked at her feet.

"I thought it was Ella now?" I grinned.

"Like it do you?" I asked. She blushed softly and nodded.

"I've never had a nickname before." She frowned. "I was thinking, where do people sleep? At Hogwarts I mean."

"In their houses." She frowned and moved slowly down the bed to lie flat, only wincing a little bit this time.

"In their…houses?" I mentally hit myself. We had forgotten to tell her about the houses.

"Shit sorry Ella, there are four houses at Hogwarts. Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Gryffindor and when you arrive an ancient sorting hat sort you into one of the houses based on your character." She yawned.

"Tell me about them?" I smiled.

"Not tonight. You're exhausted and you need sleep." She shook her head.

"Please Sirius?" I had to laugh she sounded exactly like a little child begging for a story.

"Okay. Well there is Hufflepuff who was founded by Helga Hufflepuff who are sorta the reject house, as harsh as that sounds, they are very cluey though very loyal. They are yellow and black and the sign is a badger. Then there is Ravenclaw who are all smart and I mean super scary smart. They are blue and black with a raven as their symbol, Slytherin who are all evil and is possibly the worst house to get it by far. Dead serious, there hasn't been a good wizard or witch who has come out of Slytherin that are good. They are green and silver with a snake as their symbol. Only because they are slimy and cowardly like snakes." She giggled at that comment. "And finally Gryffindor who are brave and the best house by far. They are all handsome and smart and brave and did I mention handsome?" She giggled harder at that.

"So I take it you are in Gryffindor?" I nodded.

"Is it that obviously?" She shook her head and yawned.

"Are all your family in Gryffindor as well?" I shook my head.

"No. My family was all Slytherin. My younger brother, Regulus is in it. Mind you they are all evil, cruel, harsh, miserable human beings who all should just go jump of a cliff and…" I stopped myself. What the hell was I doing? I was telling a totally stranger how much I hated my family and how evil they were. She reached out and grabbed my hand. I felt a large shock of electricity shot through my arm. I looked down and then up at her face, she had her eyes closed.

"That's why you're not with them in Slytherin. They may be evil and horrible as you say but your not. You are one of the sweetest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. You're strong and brave and caring and everything you described Gryffindor as." She sighed and winced slightly. I squeezed her hand without realizing, she squeezed back. "You are not your family. You are your own person and so much better than them."

"You don't know them but." I said, glad it was dark due to the fact I was blushing.

"No, but I know you. I've heard you talk when you think I'm out of it." I paled at that.

"Are you serious?" She nodded without opening her eyes.

"A few times yes. And I have seen the way you are with James and Remus. I doubt I could find a tight band of brothers anywhere. No offence nor disrespect to you or your family but as far as I can see, your family is right here…." She trailed off due to the huge yawn that interrupted her. I smiled and let go off her hand (unwilling, mind you.) before standing up.

"That's it no more stories for you tonight. You need sleep." She didn't answer. She was already passed out. I smiled and pulled the covers up and closed the window. I smiled down at her and stroked her hair back from her head before kissing her forehead.

"Thank you Ella." I whispered before carefully walking out the door. I closed it carefully behind me and sighed against the door. What the hell was that? I had so many emotions running around in my head. I never had anyone tell me I was brave and sweet and everything else she called me. Nor did anyone say anything like that about my family. I smiled. She was so blunt and honest. And so beautiful and understanding. I closed my eyes and smiled wider. She grabbed my hand and held it. And smiled and sat up when I came in and she said she was hoping I would come back! Did that mean that whatever I was feeling, she felt it too? God I hoped so.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing?" I opened my eyes and saw James and Remus staring at me, both containing smirks. I blushed slightly and moved off the door.

"Nothing. Just had a chat with Ella." I said. They looked at each other.

"Oh yeah? How did that go?" James asked.

"Oh…you know…alright I guess. Well I'm off to bed." I pushed past them to the spare room I was sleeping in just down the hall since Ella was sleeping in my room.

"For the record Sirius, we think you're the sweetest thing in the world as well." Remus called. I cringed and get bright red but didn't dare turn around as they broke into laughter. Damn it! They must have been spying! Those bastards!

"_**Okay I kept my end of the deal now off to bed with you all before Molly has my head." I said. There were groans and moans but they all moved. I sighed and got up.**_

"_**Can you tell us more tomorrow?" Ginny asked.**_

"_**Oh yes please do Sirius! This is by far the best story I've ever heard." Hermione said. That was a shock in itself. I'm sure that she would have read millions of books and this one was the best? It wasn't even a story more like a history lesson. I smiled.**_

"_**Well thank you young lady. And yes tomorrow I shall continue…if your lucky and don't drive us adults insane. And by adults I mean people with jobs and facial hair." I added looking at the twins who were about to protest. They sighed and huffed off to bed.**_

"_**I think it's wonderful." Came a small voice behind me after everyone had left the room. I turned and saw Molly there with Arthur.**_

"_**What's wonderful?" I asked blowing out the candles. **_

"_**That you are telling the story. It's been so long since you've spoken about her." she said. I sighed.**_

"_**It's been hard." I replied. **_

"_**We understand. It's been almost what? Fifteen or sixteen years?" Arthur said.**_

"_**Fifteen years and six months." I said before turning to them with a fake smile on my face. "But who's counting?"**_

"_**It's good to know she is still alive in some way." Molly said squeezing my arm as she headed out of the room.**_

"_**No one will blame you though if you don't finish the story." Arthur added as we followed her out.**_

"_**I couldn't do that to the kids. Besides its kinda helping me in a way." I replied. They smiled at me at the bottom of the stairs.**_

"_**Good to know. Goodnight Sirius." They said heading for their room downstairs. **_

"_**Goodnight Molly. Night Arthur." I said climbing the stairs to my room. I sighed as I opened the door. It was so different sleeping here now. After spending it with her. This was always our room. Her presence was everywhere. I hadn't been back here in so long and now having to spend every day here was driving me insane. Buckbeak nudged me. I turned and patted him. **_

"_**Yeah I know boy. I know." I said. He made a funny noise in the back of his throat before returning to his corner. I sighed and got dressed for bed. I climbed into t he cold sheets and ran my hand down the opposite side. Her side. I felt tears well up as they did most nights since being back here. **_

"_**I miss you Ella. I miss you so damn much." I muttered giving away to my emotions. **_

"Hurry up! We're going to be late!" Rosie called up the stairs. I sighed.

"You sure you're okay?" I asked for the hundredth time that day.

"Sirius if you ask me that one more time it will be you who won't be okay." Ella said. James and Remus snickered. Ella was in the bathroom where she had been for the last half an hour.

"Okay, ready?" she asked. We looked at each other. This would be the first time we would have seen her all better, walking around and dressed normally.

"Just hurry up!" James called in all his wonder. I sighed and shook my head. The bathroom door opened and…

"_**Breakfast everyone!" Molly said as plates of bacon, eggs, pancakes and glasses of juice came flying over. We were sitting at the long table all together waiting for breakfast. I smiled and grabbed my plate.**_

"_**Mhmmm Molly you're wonderful." I said before attacking my eggs.**_

"_**Mum! You interrupted at the worst time!" Ginny protested. **_

"_**Well I'm sorry but you need to eat something if you're going to be cleaning more today." Molly said. I smiled into my juice. They weren't going to be happy.**_

"_**Oh Mum can't we have a day off? The story is just getting really really interesting." Ron said.**_

"_**And you always said we should be studying more." Fred piped up.**_

"_**This is all history right?" George added with a mouthful of bacon.**_

"_**Swallow your food before speaking George and although I'm happy you're enjoying the story but we do need to help clean. I'm sorry but the story is going to have to wait." She turned back to the stove. **_

"_**So…the door opened and…?" Harry asked. I sighed and put a finger up to indicate to wait til I was finished my mouthful.**_

"_**And she walked out looking amazing." Remus interrupted from the kitchen door. We spun around.**_

"_**Oh Remus dear! Would you like some breakfast?" Molly asked. "There is plenty."**_

"_**Oh no thank you Molly I just ate. I thought I would pop over and see if Sirius wanted help around the house and with the story." I smiled and nodded my head while swallowing.**_

"_**They seem to love it." I replied. He laughed.**_

"_**Who wouldn't and we're not even up to the good bits yet."**_

"_**I know! Can you picture what they will be like when we get to that bit?" **_

"_**Ah, you won't be able to get away." We chuckled.**_

"_**While someone continue before Mum makes us clean?" Ron said. Remus smiled and patted my shoulder.**_

"_**Day of Hogwarts?" He asked. I nodded.**_

"_**Day of Hogwarts." He nodded and sat down.**_


	9. Chapter 8

The door opened and Ella stepped out looking shy and unsure.  
"How do I look?" She asked. To say we were stunned would be an understatement. Ella was wearing jeans that hugged her curves and a loose red shirt that sat off her shoulders. She still walked with a small limp and you could faintly see the marks on her face and shoulders but apart from that, no one would know what happened.  
"You look beautiful." Sirius sighed breaking the silence. Ella blushed and looked at her feet which were covered in small black slip ones.  
"Thank you Sirius."  
"COME ON YOU GUYS!" Rosie yelled out.  
"Come on before she blows a gasket." James said. Ella picked up her bag and winced. Sirius rushed over to help her but she shook her head. IT was always funny to watch them around each other. They seemed so comfortable yet so awkward if that makes senses. It was clear to James and me that he had some deep feelings towards her and he was the one she trusted the most. There was defiantly something interesting happening there. We filed down the stairs, Sirius helping Ella and into the kitchen.  
"Thank Merlin! I thought you had all gotten lost." Rosie said. She smiled at Ella.  
"You look beautiful Ella." Ella smiled.  
"Thank you." She mumbled quiet as a mouse. She had only just started talking to Mrs Potter and was still shy around her. She still didn't speak to Mr Potter.  
"Come on everyone outside. We're driving to the station." We filled outside and looked at the mini bus in front of us.  
"Mum can you drive?" James asked. Mrs Potter smacked him upside the ears.  
"Of course I can. I can do anything." She said. We shrugged and put our trunks inside. Ella just stood there.  
"You okay?" I asked. She shook her head.  
"What's wrong?"  
"I've never been in one of these before." I couldn't help but laugh. She was so innocent in all aspects.  
"It's perfectly safe I promise." She nodded and carefully got in. I was rather glad that we had such a big car. Sirius and Ella sat on one side and James and I sat opposite them.  
"How do we…Ummm get to Hogwarts? We drive?" Ella asked shortly after we had started to move. James and I laughed.  
"No darl, we're just driving to the station then we catch the train to Hogwarts." Sirius said softly, patting her arm. The blush that crept to her cheeks didn't go unnoticed by me and I had to hide a smile. Seems the feelings towards each other were a lot stronger then James and I had thought. "Oh." Ella said, frowning slightly. "So it's far away?" she nervously tucked her hair behind her ear. The scars on her hand and wrist glittered in the soft light and I felt a shiver go down my spine.  
"Sort of, but wait til you see it Ella. It's simply stunning." I said smiling reassuringly at her.  
"Not as stunning as something else." I heard Sirius mutter staring right at her. Ella bit her lip and hid a smile. I frowned and looked out the window. It was rather odd that in the time we had gotten to know her we had never seen her smile in full fair. She always bites her lip or covered it. But what was even odder was the fact that it was always Sirius that made her smile a certain way. I sighed. Things this year were certainly going to get a lot more interesting.  
"Come on kids, we're here." Rosie said as the car came to a complete stop. I looked up and saw Ella cringe. I sighed. Whoever had done these things to her deserved to be boiled alive.

"It's going to be ok Ells. You have us to protect you." Sirius said wrapping his arms around her shoulders. I half expected her to pull away like she normally did when we came to close but I was shocked to see she didn't pull away at all.  
"Promise?" She mumbled. "Promise." Sirius said pulling her into him for a hug. I suddenly felt awkward and almost like an invader in this private showing of concern and emotion and turned my head away. James nudged me and I looked at him. He nodded his head towards the couple again and I looked over to see what exactly what he meant. Ella was gripping onto Sirius's shirt like it was her last life line and he was pressing his lips to her hair and was muttering something we couldn't hear. I sighed. This year was defiantly going to be an interesting year.  
_**  
"Right, that's enough for now. I want you all to go and clean." Molly said. I smiled and lent back. Remus ran a hand over his face and sighed deeply. The room was filled with arguments and whining.  
"No ifs, buts or maybe's, I let you off yesterday." Harry, Ron and the twins turned to me.  
"Please help us?" Harry asked. I chuckled.  
"Sorry lads but Molly is in charge today besides I have to do a bit of cleaning myself." Molly nodded her approval and they all groaned.  
"Now there is cleaning supplies in that cupboard, get whatever you can and then come back to me and I will tell you where I need you." Molly said before bristling off.  
"I'd like to tell you where I would…"  
"George Weasley! Don't even think about finishing that sentence!" Molly's head poked around the corner. George closed his mouth and huffed before following the rest of the kids towards the cupboard. Remus shook his head.  
"Kids these days." He said. I laughed.  
"Never a dull moment that's for sure." He sighed.  
"Look Sirius, are you sure you're okay with all this?" He asked. I tilted my head at him.  
"What do you mean?" I asked somewhat confused.  
"With telling this story. I understand that you keep telling us it's ok and it's doing you good and everything but are you really okay? It can't be easy." I sighed and ran my hands through my hair.  
"Of course it's not easy Moony. She was my everything. But in all honesty, it is helping. I haven't spoken about her in so long and telling this story kinda makes me think that her memory will live on long after we cark it to." He smiled and clapped my on the back.  
"As long as you're ok Padfoot." I smiled warily and nodded.  
"Yeah Mooney I'll be fine." I stood up. "But if you'll excuse me I need to visit the little boy's room." I made a hasty exit and lent against the wall in the hallway, sighing. Between you and me it wasn't easy. Talking about her and telling everyone our story brought up memories I had tried to bury. Don't get me wrong, there hasn't been a day since she left us that I don't think of her. I think about her every second of every minute of every day and that will never change. But thinking back right to the start just brings up so many bad memories and so many emotions. I never stopped loving her and I know I never will. I meant it when I said she was my everything. I sighed again. I hadn't slept well the last couple of days due to my stupid brain going on overdrive thinking about her. I shook my head and marched upstairs to my room, slamming the door behind me. I sat on my bed and held my head in my hands. I can't do this anymore. It's getting too hard. It was crushing me all over again. I had managed to move on with life, choosing to only think about her and treasure her memory without locking myself away. She was what kept me sane in Azkaban and what stopped me killing Peter years ago. She was the reason I am still alive. It was all her. I felt Buckbeak nudge my face gently under my arms. I sighed and patted him.  
"I just want her here Buckbeak. I just need her with me." I mumbled as the tears once again began to fall.**_

"Oh my!" I chuckled at the look on Ella's face. We stood on the steps of Hogwarts looking up at the great castle itself. Ella stood there in total awe, like she had never seen anything so stunning and beautiful. I have to admit looking at her; I don't think I had ever seen anything so beautiful and stunning either.

_**"Sirius! You're wrecking it mate!" Ron yelled out. I chuckled. A few days had passed since my little break down and we were once again in the lounge room with Remus and I on chairs and the children on the floor at our feet. It was like one big cosy family. Molly and Arthur sat on another lounge just behind the children. I smiled softly. This was one of the better things in life I have to admit I enjoyed.  
"Geez, we don't want to hear how much you thought she was beautiful." Fred said. (Yes, I was in fact getting a lot better at working out who was who)**_

"_**We want action!" George added as they high fived and I shook my head.**_

"_**Pull ya head in you two. I didn't get action til a bit later on." I added with a wink much to the horrified looks of Hermione, Molly and Ginny. I chuckled and waved my hands.**_

"_**I was kidding just kidding. Anyway back to the story before I get into more trouble." **_

"It's gorgeous isn't it?" I whispered in her ear. She nodded and turned to face me.

"More beautiful than I could ever imagine." She sighed softly. I smiled and nudged her.

"Come on blue eyes, let's get inside." The corner of her mouth moved up slightly. I was happy with that but I vowed to myself then and there to one make her smile properly and to laugh out loud. Remus and James pretended to gag behind us and I shook my head. Immature much? I couldn't help but smile as we walked Ella through the castle to the Great Hall. What she didn't realise was that all eyes were on her. She was too busy taking in everything. A large group of people walked past and one of them bumped into Ella. To my surprise she cringed and clenched her eyes closed and balled her hands into fists. Coming to a stop in the hallway a few feet away from the hall I stepped out in front of her.

"Ella, you okay?" I asked. James and Remus stood next to me. She nodded.

"What did they do?" James asked. Ella shook her head. I turned to the guys.

"You two go in. I'll bring her in in a minute." They opened their mouths to protest but I shook my head and nodded towards Ella who was now shaking slightly. They nodded and walked into the Hall. I turned back to Ella with a sigh.

"El, what happened?" I asked softly. She slowly opened her eyes.

"I guess I don't like people touching me." She whispered. I pulled my hands away as I had just reached up to hug her. She smiled her little corner smile.

"You are different Sirius. You're not people." She muttered looking at her feet. I smiled. She really knew how to make a guy feel like a king. Silly I know considering it was barely a compliment but it still warmed me up inside knowing that she thought of me differently than she did other people. Call me a hopeless romantic all you like it was still an amazing experience. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her. It brought me great joy when she instantly stopped shaking and wrapped her arms around me. It was one of the nicest feelings in the world. We stood like that for a couple of minutes until we heard a soft cough behind us. I pulled away and turned around to see Prof. McGonagall standing there with a funny look on her face.  
"Ms Marat I presume?" She asked. Ella stepped out of my grasp and bowed slightly.  
"Please, come with me. You need to be sorted. Mr Black." She nodded towards me and I winked.  
"Professor." Ella turned back to me and looked at her feet before back up at me.  
"Thank you. You always know how to make me feel real again." She mumbled before doing something I never thought she would do in a million years. She stepped forward and kissed my cheek before hurrying off after Professor McGonagall. I stood there dumbfounded. I did not expect that one bit! I reached up and touched my cheek. I could feel her hot breathe lingering on my cheek. I smiled and sighed. She was a girl full of surprises. I walked towards the hall with a sudden new bounce in my step.


	10. Chapter 9

"_**And before you all ask, yes he really was that bad." Remus interrupted. Everyone laughed. I backhanded him on his shoulder.**_

"_**Geez Moony way to go and give it away." I said. He chuckled.**_

"_**You're doing that all yourself Padfoot old friend." I grinned as he clapped me on my back. **_

"_**You were just jealous." I said.**_

"_**Oh defiantly how did you ever guess that I was so jealous of how pathetic you had become?" he retorted I opened my mouth to reply when a small cough interrupted us. We both turned and saw everyone looking at us with strange looks.**_

"_**What?" We said at the same time.**_

"_**If it's alright with you two old woman we would like to hear more of the story?" Ginny said. Lupin and I looked at each other before laughing.**_

"Hey Sirius!" a small voice called out as I walked into the hall. I smiled and waved as I saw it was Peter.

"Hey Pete! How are you?" I said plonking down next to him and clapping him on the shoulder.

"Oh I'm great sucks to be back here but can't complain. I heard you had an interesting summer.' He winked and nudged me indicating the line of first years. I smiled when I saw who he was pointing to. Ella stood near the very end looking very uneasy. I frowned and wished I could take all her fears away.

"We were just filling Pete here in on our little discovery." James said leaning forward. I nodded not really listening. I was too busy watching Ella. She seemed to shrink into herself and refused to look at anyone. My lip curled as I saw Malfoy eying her up and down along with my brother.

"What's up Padfoot?" James asked hitting my elbow. I turned back around and nodded towards Malfoy and his cronies.

"Don't like the way Malfoy is looking at El." I muttered.

"She really is gorgeous Sirius. I mean stunning." Pete said all excited like. I nodded.

"I would kill myself if she was in Slytherin." James piped up. Remus scoffed.

"Calm down James. She is too innocent to be evil." He said. I nodded in agreement. "I reckon if she isn't in Gryffindor she'll be in Hufflepuff." He added.

"Jesus, fingers crossed she is in Gryffindor then." I said chuckling before turning around again. Dumbledore stood up and the hall fell silent.

"Here we go." I said smiling.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to another year at Hogwarts. Before we continue I would like you to join me in welcoming our new students as they get ready to be sorted." The hall filled with clapping and this time every first year looked nervous. "I now hand the stage over to Professor McGonagall." The lady herself stepped up with the old hat and her list. The hall fell silent as the hat opened its brim and began to sing.

"You'll have to forgive me children but I can't for the life of me remember what the bloody thing said."

"Does anyone actually remember it?" Ron said. "Besides you Hermione." Hermione closed her mouth she had just opened.

"From memory it was something about the fates forming and a new chapter beginning. And the usual join forces and prevail." Lupin said rubbing the stubble on his chin. I nodded.

"Yeah something like that. Anyway back to the sorting! And you can relax, I'm not going to go through the whole list as I don't' even remember anyone's name."  
"Two more to go!" Pete whispered excitedly in my ear. I sighed. It was starting to get really annoying. I clapped and ignored him as Chloe Zeroldé became a Ravenclaw. Ella was now looking like she was about to receive the death sentence.

"Poor thing looks so scared." Remus said shaking his head and clapping as the last name, a pale boy called August Zhan became a Slytherin. I nodded.

"I'm getting nervous just looking at her." I replied. Finally it was her turn. But instead of her name being called from the list, Dumbledore stood up and again the hall fell dead silent.

"Ladies and Gentlemen as you are all more than likely aware we have a new student amongst us who isn't a first year. She is a transfer from our Romanian sister school, Vaduz and will be joining us this year. Please join me in welcoming Miss Esmerelda Hart!" my jaw fell open. Hart? Since when was her name Hart? I turned and saw James and Lupin mirrored my looks. Why change her name? I turned back and saw her lift her head and look straight ahead ignoring the cat calls and whispers she received as she walked up to the platform. Dumbledore smiled at her and she bowed before sitting on the seat. She found me in the crowd and held my eyes as McGonagall put the hat on her. I crossed my fingers under the table. Please be Gryffindor, please be Gryffindor, please be Gryffindor I mumbled under my breathe. The hat took a deep breath and yelled out…

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"_**Yay!" the children much to my amusement all cheered.**_

"_**You didn't seriously think she wasn't going to be with us did you?" I asked raising an eyebrow.**_

"_**It was suspenseful that's all." Ron said.**_

"_**We couldn't help but get excited." Harry added. I chuckled.**_

"_**Fair enough. Do you want more or is that enough for tonight?" I asked and was immediately bombarded by 'mores' I looked over at Molly.**_

"_**Time for a bit more or do we send the terrors to bed?" I asked. She smiled and pretended to think as the children all watched her.**_

"_**I think we have time for just a little bit more but then straight to bed with no arguments." They cheered again and turned around to face me. I smiled and winked at Molly.**_

I pumped my fist in the air and whistled as Ella took the hat off and walked over to us. I jumped up and pulled her into a huge hug.

"Ah Ella you did it! You're with us!" She smiled her little smile.

"You had doubts?" She asked as she sat down between me and Peter. James reached over and ruffled her hair while Remus patted her hand. I was pleasantly surprised that she didn't shrugged away. Instead she winked.

"No of course not Ella! We knew you would be with us." James said. She shook her head with a small smile.

"Hi I'm Peter I'm sure you've heard a lot about me!" Peter pretty much yelled in her ear. She shrugged away from him and into me.

"Hello Peter. Of course I have. My name is Esmerelda but everyone calls me Ella." She said softly. Peter smiled.

"Can I call you Ella?" He asked. I rolled my eyes at her.

"You are included in everyone Pete." James said shaking his head.

"Hello Esmerelda." A soft voice piped up a few seats down. We all turned to see who it was. To my surprise it was Lily. James instantly ran his hand through his hair.

"Hello Evans." He said, his voice becoming deeper. I snorted and even Ella had a small giggle.

"Hello." Ella said quietly.

"I'm Lily Evans, the head girl. I'll be happy to show to you around if you want to escape these guys." She said. Ella looked at the table.

"They really aren't that bad." Ella said. James smirked.

"See Evans? I'm not that bad." He said puffin out his chest. Ella looked up and tilted her head at him.

"I suppose they do grow on you. But the offer is there if you ever need it." Ella smiled her smile and nodded.

"Thank you Lily." Lily smiled and turned back to the headmaster as he stood up for his speech.

"She totally wants me." James said as he swung back around. Ella tilted her head at him again.

"What?" He asked her. She shook her head.

"I was just wondering how is it that your big head fit through the door." She said. We all turned to her shocked. She blushed and looked at the table again. I looked at Remus and we burst out laughing.

"Oh Ella! You are perfect." I said as I wiped tears from my eyes. James mock glared at her.

"I'll get you back." Ella wrinkled her nose at him.

"Try me." She said. I wrapped my arm around her hip and pulled her closer.

"It's nice to see you stepping out of your comfort zone." I whispered in her ear. She turned and looked at me.

"I will get better Sirius. It just…will take me time." She said softly. I brushed my thumb over her cheek.

"I know darling. Take all the time you want, there is no rush and no pressure." She smiled her little smile and turned back to the headmaster. I smiled and sighed. How can one girl have such an effect on me? She gave me feelings like I never thought I would have.

"_**And between you and me I wouldn't have had it any other way." I smiled at the memories. "Right now off to bed." There were groans but I held up my hand.**_

"_**Remember the deal? Anymore groans and I'll stop the story for good. Now scoot." The children got up huffing and puffing but headed off to bed anyway stopping only to kiss Molly goodnight. I smiled. It was like having one big massive family. Such a warm feeling.**_

"_**Hey Sirius?" I looked up to see the others standing near the stairs.**_

"_**Yes Harry?" I replied.**_

"_**Can you tell more tomorrow?" He asked the others all smiling and nodded eagerly. I laughed.**_

"_**Of course. I'm not promising it will be interesting but I'll tell ya anyway." I winked and they all smiled.**_

"_**Thanks Sirius. Goodnight." He said before they all ran up the stairs. I shook my head at them.**_

"_**They are a handful aren't they?" Molly said with a small giggle. I nodded.**_

"_**I don't know how you did It." **_

"_**With great difficultly." We laughed as she stood up. "Hot chocolate before bed anyone?" I raised my hand as did Remus and Lupin.**_

"_**Sounds great Molly." Remus said. Molly smiled and bustled into the kitchen. That woman needed a cape. She was simply amazing. It did make me think though of what Ella would have been like as a housewife. I chuckled. She probably would have killed someone.**_

"_**What's so funny?" Remus whispered.**_

"_**Ella as a housewife." I replied softly. He chuckled.**_

"_**She would have killed someone." He said. I nodded.**_

"_**Exactly what I was thinking." **_

"Ella?" I asked putting down my quill and leaning back to look at her. She was sitting on an armchair reading a book while I sat on the floor pouring over a stupid potions essay.

"Yes Sirius?" She replied continuing to read.

"I need help." I muttered. She smiled her little smile and continued to read.

"We all know that but what was it that you wanted to ask me?" She said. James, Peter and Remus all chuckled. James was sitting across from me while the other two were on the couch pouring over textbooks.

"You're horrible." I said turning back around.

"Oh I'm sorry Sirius. What do you need help with?" Her voice came suddenly in my ear. I shivered slightly as her hot breath tickled the back of my neck. I could smell her sweet perfume of musk and wood scents. God it was intoxicating.

"This stupid essay. It's doing my head in." She sighed and reached over to grab it groaning slightly. I spun around and saw her grimace as she pulled back with my essay.

"You okay?" I asked. I noticed the other three look over at her. She nodded.

"Yeah I'm okay just a bit stiff." She turned back to my essay. I sighed and rested my chin on my hand suddenly very bored.

"Okay, here's the plan." She piped up a few minutes later. I spun back around to give her my full attention.

"I suggest that you put this away and we go for a walk." She looked over at everyone. "All of us." We looked at each other before looking back at her.

"This is coming from the woman who was telling us before that we have to do homework?" James said shaking his head. She poked her tongue out at him. I chuckled these last few weeks had done wonders for her. She was still shy and timid but she was relaxed and okay with us touching her and being close. She was still a little edgy with Peter not that any of us actually blamed her but I think that was because she didn't know him like she knew us. We also discovered since being here that she had a wicked sense of humour and loved to tease us all. She still hadn't smile completely nor had we ever heard her laugh and nine times out of ten I would find her asleep down here on the cough rather than upstairs in her dorm but still there were many great changes. She even talked to Lily a few times which was a big deal for her. We also discovered that she was incredibly intelligent and was absolutely breezing through most of her work. This was great for us because she spent most of the time helping us.

"You guys coming or not?" She asked standing up. We looked at each other before slamming our books shut and jumping up.

"Hell yes we are!" James shouted. Ella giggled and hid it behind her hand.

"Well come on then." She said before heading out to the portrait.

"Giving up on studying have we?" The fat lady said. Ella turned around and nodded.

"I was getting sick of them asking for help." The fat lady giggled.

"Good for you darling." Ella nodded and kept walking. I sighed and threw my arm over her shoulder. She jumped slightly but didn't move it which was a good thing.

"So, blue eyes, where are we going?" I asked.

"Anywhere our feet take us. Anywhere to get away from homework." She replied.

"Sounds good to me." Remus stretched. "If I have to read one more thing about the Giant wars I'm going to go on a rampage." Ella suddenly stopped frowning.

"What is it El?" I asked as the other three stopped as well. She shook her head and out her finger to her lips. We all listened but couldn't hear anything.

"Lily." She said before barging past us at full pelt. It was unbelievable how fast she was moving. I looked at James who shrugged and we chased after her just as she skidded around a corner.

"Ella!" I called as we saw her turn down another one. We tore after her coming to a stop as we heard yelling. I looked and James and Remus before stepping around the final corner.

"_**Lunch!" Molly called. I sighed and lent back in my chair.**_

"_**Oh no! She has the worst timing in the world!" George moaned. **_

"_**Hey, be grateful your mother makes you food." I said. He huffed.**_

"_**She could have waited five more minutes until you told us what was around the corner." I chuckled.**_

"_**Well I'm sorry next time I'll let you all starve." Molly said as she bustled into the lounge room with a large plate of sandwiches and two jugs of pumpkin juice plus cups floating behind her.**_

"_**Well I appreciate it Molly." I said as she placed the sandwiches on the table along with the drinks. She smiled at me. The relationship between me and Molly had gotten ten times better lately. I don't know if it was because she feels sorry forme about having to tell this story or whether it was that she respected me but it was rather nice having her on my side. **_

"_**Thank you Sirius. At least someone does." She straightened up. George sighed.**_

"_**I appreciate you mum." He said. She smiled and patted his cheek.**_

"_**Thank you dear. Now hurry up and eat I need you to come help me do the last few bits of cleaning." She turned and bustled out of the room. The collective sigh in the room almost blew me over.**_

"_**Come on guys it's not that bad." I said trying to cheer them up. They just looked at me with raised eyebrows and frowns.**_

"_**Can you continue Sirius until we have to go be house elves?" Ron said already on his second sandwich. The look Hermione gave him would have frozen lakes.**_

"_**Well now maybe you'll appreciate them Ronald." She barked before moving away from him like he was a disease. I chuckled.**_

"_**Whoops." I said to him. He nodded.**_

"_**Whoops indeed." He sighed.**_

"_**Don't worry mate I was always doing the same with Ella. It's just a guy thing to put their foot in it and a girl thing to take it the wrong way."**_

We skidded around the corner to see Ella with her back to us facing Malfoy and his crew, my brother and Snivellus included. I curled my lip at them and went to step forward but James held me back. When I looked at him and simply shook his head and pointed.

"Why you filthy mudblood!" Malfoy said pulling out his wand and pointing it at Ella. To my biggest surprise she just stood there normally she cowered or flinched but it was like she was a totally different person. She held herself higher and was looking him dead in the eye which she never did.

"We both know you're not going to hex me so put it away." Ella said softly. James and I looked at each other in shock. She didn't show one inch of fear. Malfoy smirked.

"What makes you so sure mudblood?" he spat.

"You are not man enough. You are just a scared little boy looking for attention no one will give you because no one cares for you." My jaw dropped to the ground. This was not my Ella but I wasn't complaining

"How dare yo…" he said raising his arm.

"You hex me and you will suffer ten times whatever you do to me. I am not one of your slack jaw followers Lucious Malfoy. I will not cower nor fear you because we all know you are a yellow belly coward who likes to pick on little girls because you are not man enough to pick on someone your own size." She spat.

"Ella please, just leave it it's fine." It was then I noticed Lily standing against the wall.

"No, I'm sick of him picking on you Lily. I hear you at night it's not fair nor is it right and since no one else will stand up to him I will."

"I will too." I said stepping around the corner. James, Remus and Peter followed me. James went straight to Lily and held her close. For once she let him hold her.

"Oh look, here comes your carers. What are they scared you will flip out if I touch you?" Malfoy said smirking again. I opened my mouth to say something but Ella beat me to it.

"These are my friends, something I'm sure you're not familiar with."

"What do you call theses then?" He indicated the people behind him. My brother looked to the ground.

"Sheep." Ella said. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Sheep?" He said before laughing.

"Yes sheep. Dumb boring mindless followers to anyone and everyone. They aren't friends Malfoy they just aren't smart enough to realise how pathetic you really are." She smirked at him. We laughed as the smirk fell off his face. He raised his wand.

"Cru…" He yelled and before we had time to pull out our wand or for him to finish the sentence Ella raised her wand and waved it at him. Malfoy and his followers dropped their wands and frozen. I frowned wondering what had done when suddenly they started baaing like sheep. I threw back my head and laughed as did everyone else. Ella turned around and shrugged.

"I thought it would make my point stick." She said making us laugh even harder.

"Oh Ella! You're amazing!" Lily said pulling away from James to throw her arms around her. Ella looked shocked but hugged Lily back all the same. She looked at me and I smiled wiping the tears from my eyes.

"That was bloody brilliant!" James yelled. "Are you okay Lily?" He turned to Lily who smiled and blushed.

"Yes I'm okay. They just cornered me that's all. If it wasn't for Ella I wouldn't have gotten away." Lily smiled over at Ella who blushed and looked at floor. James Remus Peter and Lily started walking ahead. James threw his arm over Lily's shoulder and for once she didn't move it off.

"I don't know what came over me." She mumbled quietly. I put my arm around her and guided her through the hallways after the others.

"James was right. Whatever it was it was brilliant." I said. She sighed. I stopped and put my hands on her shoulders and made her look at me.

"Do you feel alright?" I asked. She tilted her head at me.

"Do you feel guilty to what you did to them?" I rephrased it. She shook her head.

"Do you feel angry or upset at yourself?" again she shook her head.

"Then you have nothing to worry about. As long as you're okay with what you did it's all good." I said moving to her side and resuming guiding her down the halls.

"But it was wrong. We aren't allowed to use magic like that on one another. But he just got me so…mad!" she frowned.

"What was he doing?" I asked.

"He was picking on Lily calling her a mud blood and other foul names. She was getting upset. Sirius, am I a mudblood?" I chuckled.

"Are you half Muggle?"

"What's a Muggle?" She said. I laughed.

"Oh you are so innocent darling. A Muggle is some with no magic so if you're parents or one of your parent's is non magical then you are a mudblood." I explain. She sighed.

"Then I guess I'm not a mudblood." She replied. We had caught up to the others.

"So, how do you feel after taking down Malfoy and his pose?" James asked. Ella looked back at the floor.

"I feel…" She paused and i was rather worried what the answer would be. She looked and gave us a massive smile. Not her little corner smile but I real full fledged smile. My heart skipped a beat. It was gorgeous and warming. She had straight white teeth and it made her look even more beautiful and stunning. She seemed to stun everyone for a minute. It was the first time she had actually smiled properly.

"I feel bloody brilliant." She replied.


	11. Chapter 10

"_**She is really stepping out of her shell now isn't she?" Hermione said sighing. I nodded.**_

"_**Oh boy was she ever. Don't get me wrong she was timid and shy and all that but when it was just me and her or the gang she would let down her barriers and we would learn more things about her all the time. Even after we left school and were married I would still find out little things about her. She was one adventure in herself." I lent forward in my chair smiling.**_

"_**I can't believe she did that to Malfoy's dad!" Harry said causing the room to erupt into laughter again. **_

"_**Oh trust me, we didn't let him live it down either. It must be a family trait to impersonate animals at Hogwarts." We all laughed again.**_

"_**It was the start of her and Lily's friendship as well." I said a few minutes later once we had calmed down. "From that moment they were inseparable. Almost like sisters. They would study together and they had almost every class together it was rather annoying though when they started finishing each others sentences." They laughed. "It was also when James and Lily started to get real close as did Ella and myself. So, for now I am going to stop the story so we can go clean…" they all moaned and groaned. I held up my hand for silence which funnily enough I got. **_

"_**But I am happy to continue when were done for the day." This seemed to please them. "Now go before Molly has to tell you then she might let you off easy." They filed out of the room with thank you's and excitement for the next part. I sighed and lent back in my chair. Molly walked in and stopped dead in her tracks.**_

"_**Where is everyone?" She asked. I smiled.**_

"_**Already cleaning. They thought they would just do it instead of you asking." She shook her head.**_

"_**They never stop amazing me. Thank you Sirius." I raised an eyebrow at her.**_

"_**What for Molly?"**_

"_**For letting them in. I know they really enjoy getting to know who you are and they love Ella. It's really nice to be able to hear it from the start. Makes the time I spent with her all the more special." She smiled and left. I sat there thinking over what she said. I didn't realise that me telling the story had that effect on everyone. I just thought they wanted to hear a story to stop them from cleaning. I smiled to myself. Ah Ella, wish you could see and hear me now. I thought. You would laugh yourself stupid.**_

"Sirius! That's disgusting!" Lily laughed as I attempted to drink a bottle of butterbeer through my nose. We were sitting outside enjoying the sun under our favourite tree near the lake. James was roaring with laughter as he pulled Lily closer. I looked around and saw Peter clapping with delight like the idiot he was, Remus was shaking his head while laughing and Ella was sitting against the tree reading, paying no attention to what was going on what so ever, which didn't make me to happy.

"Ella, please tell Sirius to stop! I'm being turned off butterbeer!" Lily laughed. Ella did nothing.

"Ella?" Lily asked. Ella looked up.

"Sorry, what?" She said looking at Lily.

"Please tell Sirius to stop." Lily said turning back to me. Ella looked over and smiled.

"Sirius, get the straw out of your nose. It's not a good look." She said before turning back to her book. I pulled the straw out and started coughing. It was not one of my better ideas I have to admit but hey, James dared me to and well I never say no to a dare.

"You owe me two galleons." I said wiping my nose on the back of my hand. James shook his head.

"You didn't finish it. You yield so I win. You owe me two galleons." He said. Lily whacked his stomach.

"None of you win so get over it. Right Ella?" we all turned to look at her but again she snobbed us.

"El?" I asked. She looked at us startled.

"Sorry guys. What's going on?" She said. I frowned. This wasn't like Ella. Normally she would have been laughing at me or telling me to stop while trying not to laugh.

"You okay Ella?" Lily asked. Ella nodded.

"Yeah why?"

"You just don't seem…yourself. And you look like you haven't slept in days and you look really pale." Lily said tilting her head at Ella. It was simply amazing at how close they had come in such a short time. I hardly ever found Ella on the common room couch and sometimes they would disappear together and come back giggling. I was so happy for Ella though that she had a girl friend around and not just us guys. It was really helping to open her up as well which in my eyes was everything.

"I just…" She frowned and put her hand to her head. "I'm not feeling so well. It's nothing." She smiled at us but it didn't fool anyone. Now that I really looked at her, she had deep dark bags under her eyes and was almost deathly pale. I also noticed her hands were shaking slightly.

"Did you want to go to the hospital wing?" I asked moving over to sit next to her. To my and im sure every ones shock she moved away and stood up, swaying slightly.

"No I'll…I'll be fine. I'm just going to go lay down." She picked up her books and pretty much ran back to the castle. I turned back to James who was mirroring my face.

"What was that about? I don't think I've ever seen her move so fast." He said. I shook my head.

"I don't know but she has been acting really weird the last few days. How is she with you Lily?" I asked. Lily turned and looked at me frowning.

"Strange. She hardly talks and she doesn't sleep at all. I can hear her moving all through the night. Sometimes I find her sitting near the window looking out at ungodly hours of the morning. Something's up but she won't tell me." Lily said standing up. "I'll go check on her, make sure she's okay." She grabbed her books and followed after Ella who was almost at the door now. I sighed.

"She'll be okay mate." Remus said closing his book. "It's probably just homesickness. She isn't from here remember?" I nodded.

"Maybe, I just want to know why she won't let anyone near her again. She was doing so well and then suddenly we're back to square one." I sighed again. "I don't get it."

"Oh you're just upset you don't get to hold her anymore." James said puckering his lips and making kissing noises at me. I glared at him.

"It's not that you idiot! I'm just worried about her." He snorted.

"Come on mate we all know you have a thing for her." James said. I gaped at him.

"What? No! Why would you think that? I'm just…looking out for her as a concern friend." I said knowing even to myself that I was lying. And judging by the looks on their faces they didn't believe me either.

"How can you not like her? She is gorgeous!" Peter piped up sighing. I shrugged.

"She's okay I guess." I mumbled while in my head I was screaming that she was more than just plain gorgeous.

"Come on Padfoot. You can't lie to us. We see you staring at her when you think no one is looking or the way you are always brushing her hair off her face or the way you always hug her or put your arm around her or use any excuse to touch her. She is the first one you look for in the morning if she is gone before us. She is the last person you speak to at night and you get agitated if you don't see her." Remus piped up. I closed my eyes and sighed. Wow and here I was thinking I was being discreet.

"Not to mention the stupid smile you get on your face whenever she smiles or laughs or pays attention to you." James added. I scoffed and opened my eyes.

"Like the one you get when you see Lily?" I retorted. He chuckled.

"Hey, I'm not the one hiding my feelings for a girl. Everyone knows I like Lily and everyone but Ella knows you like Ella. So be a man and just admit it. You're not fooling anyone." Damn him and his good points.

"You're right. I do like Ella." I groaned. James smirked at me.

"See now was that so hard?" He asked sarcastically. I flipped him off.

"I can't like her though. It would never work." I moaned.

"Why not?" Remus asked.

"Because it's Ella. She is afraid of people in general, has so many issues and we hardly know each other and she doesn't like me. We're just friends." I said softly. Remus chuckled.

"You're an idiot Padfoot." I looked up at him. "You are so blind and so busy worrying that you don't see what we see."

"Huh? Moony, for once just get to the point." I said getting more and more confused. He sighed.

"You really don't see the way she is around you? As soon as she sees you she smiles. She laughs at you, helps you with everything, lets you touch her blushes when you do and you are the only one she turns to when she is confused."

"No way. That's bollocks. She does all that with you guys as well." I said trying not to get my hopes up.

"She doesn't with me." Peter muttered. Like always we ignored him.

"Not as much as she lets you. You're the one who makes her laugh the hardest. She always smiles around you and she never blushes with us…." Remus started.

"And the fact she has the same pathetic look on her face when she looks at you that you wear when you look at her." James finished. I sighed. There was no way that she could like me. She has never dropped hints or said anything like girls normally do. Mind you she wasn't like other girls. But it can't be. Maybe it's just the fact that I was always with her while she was recovering or I didn't push information from her or…or…or…maybe she really did like me. I looked up to say something when Lily ran over.

"Lil, what's wrong?" James asked jumping up.

"Ella's gone and I can't find her anywhere." She puffed out. My heart dropped to my stomach. That was the last thing I wanted to hear.

"_**Oooooo what happened to Ella?" I said waving my hands around. "Find out in the next chapter." They all groaned. We had finally stopped cleaning for the day and were back in the lounge room before dinner was served. **_

"_**Don't stop Sirius! Was she okay?" Hermione asked.**_

"_**Yeah Sirius, why stop now?" Harry asked frowning. I chuckled.**_

"_**Dinner is almost ready." I said smiling. They scoffed at me. **_

"_**Pfft as if mate, mum hasn't even…" Fred started but was cut off as Molly entered the room.**_

"_**Come on dinner is almost ready and I need help setting the table." She said before bustling back out. I looked at them and smiled.**_

"_**You were saying Fred?" I asked feeling rather smug with myself.**_

"_**How in Merlin's Pants did you know that?" Ron asked. I chuckled.**_

"_**It's a feeling in the air. When you get married you will understand. It's just an instinct." They all looked at each other and shrugged. **_

"_**Will you tell us what happened to her after dinner?" Ginny asked as we all made our way to the kitchen. I smiled and put my arm around her tiny shoulders.**_

"_**Of course darling. It's starting to get good now isn't it Kiddies?" they all nodded and mumbled in agreement. I sighed and stepped back form the crowd. If only they knew the truth. I pulled out the chain around my neck and fondled the charm around it. It was a small silver ring with 'i will always love from now til eternity' carved on the inside as well as the date. It was Ella's wedding ring. The last thing I had of her. I kissed it and squeezed it tightly.**_

"_**Give me strength my love." I whispered.**_

"_**You coming Sirius?" Harry poked his head back around the corner. I smiled and nodded.**_

"_**Sure am kiddo." I put the necklace away and felt it fall back onto my chest right next to my heart…where it belonged.**_

After we all went through the castle doors like mad men (and woman) we all broke up and decided to scout different areas to cover it more quickly before we would met back at the common room. We had been looking for over an hour now and I had returned to the common room entrance. I sighed seeing I was the first person there. I leant against the wall near the empty portrait of the fat lady and waited for the others. I had searched the hall, the common room and the Library, while the others had all searched different places. Hopefully they had better luck than I did. I jumped up when I saw James and Lily running towards me.

"Did you find her?" I said trying to look over their shoulders. They shook their heads.

"I checked all the girls' bathroom, the courtyards and some opened classrooms, and she wasn't here." Lily said trying to catch her breathe.

"I check all the towers and nothing." James panted. I sighed as a sinking feeling came over me. Where the hell had she disappeared to?

"Maybe Remus and Peter have had better luck." Lily said patting my shoulder. I nodded and secretly crossed my fingers. God I hoped so. A few minutes later Remus came around the corner. My stomach sank even lower as I saw Ella wasn't with him.

"I checked the entire grounds she wasn't there." He said shaking his head. I lent against the wall.

"Where the hell is she? She can't have gone far!" I said getting more and more worried.

"I asked around and the last time someone had seen her she was heading towards the hospital wing." Peter said as he too joined us. I straightened up. Peter shook his head knowing what I was thinking.

"No I checked. The nurse hasn't seen her at all." I slid down the wall and held my head in my hands.

"What now?" Lily asked.

"What else can we do we have searched the whole castle and the grounds and nothing."

"You don't think..?" Lily trailed off. I looked up.

"Don't think what?" I asked. She bit her lip and sighed.

"You don't think Malfoy and his gang found her?" She mumbled. My stomach was now at my toes. If they did find her there was no telling what they would do. I know Ella can take care of herself that I witnessed first hand but knowing Malfoy he would have more people and he would play dirty. And no matter how strong and powerful Ella could be there is no way she could take them all on.

"He better bloody not! He touches a hair on the head and I will rip him limb from limb. Forget magic I'll do with my bare hands!" I spat. James and Remus nodded in agreement. There was no way no one was messing with our girl. Lily sighed.

"Come on let's go into the common room and come up with a plan." She said. I stood up and sighed. The Fat Lady walked back into her portrait.

"Oh sorry didn't mean to keep you waiting. Was having a chat with Violet." She giggled. "Where's Ella?" she asked looking at us.

"We don't know. We can't find her." I muttered.

"Wait! Did you see her at all today other than when she was with us?" Lily asked. I looked up with a small hope. The Fat Lady frowned then clicked her fingers.

"She came back a few hours ago. Poor thing didn't look to well. All pale and sweating and shaking could hardly talk. I let her in instantly poor thing could hardly walk. Then a few minutes later she came back out. I yelled out to her telling her to rest but she just waved and kept going. She was leaning on wall and hunched over and I don't think I have ever seen someone so sick." She said. I was starting to feel sick. In the walk from us to here Ella had gotten sicker and sicker. I shook my head. So much for taking care of her.

"Where did she go? Do you know?" Lily asked. The Fat Lady shook her head.

"Sorry pet, she was heading down that way towards the hospital ward but I'm not sure." We all sighed.

"Thanks anyway. Wise One." James said. The Fat Lady sighed and swung open.

"I hope you'll find her soon." She said before swinging close again. I sighed and threw myself onto the couch.

"How can someone disappear so quickly?" I mumbled.

"Wanna try that again without the couch in your mouth?" Lily snapped. I lifted my head.

"How can someone disappear so quickly?" I asked again clearer and slower. They shrugged.

"Maybe she just went for a walk and got lost?" peter said.

"Don't be an idiot Pete. You heard the Fat Lady, she could hardly walk. Why would she go for a walk if she could hardly walk?" I snapped. Peter shrunk away.

"I didn't think of that." he mumbled. I sighed and run my hands over my face.

"Sorry Pete. I'm just worried." I said.

"We all are Sirius." Lily whispered sounding close to tears.

"I just want to…" the common room entrance opened and we all turned around, holding our breaths, all preying secretly it was Ella. The figure stepped into the light and…

"What are you guys doing?" Ella asked frowning slightly. I jumped up and ran over to her before puling her into a massive bear hug.

"Where have you been?" I asked pulling away to look her over. She had the colour back in her face and looked a lot better. I lead her over to the couches.

"I went and saw Dumbledore. Why? What's going on?" she said looking very confused as she hugged Lily.

"We couldn't find you anywhere! I came up here to see if you were okay and you were gone! I was so worried!" Lily said. Ella smiled.

"I'm sorry I didn't think to leave a note or anything."

"Why go to Dumbledore? If you were feeling sick why not go to the Hospital Wing?" Remus asked tilting his head to the side. Ella looked down at her hands.

"I had to speak to him about something and thought I would go and do it before I forgot. He actually gave me something that made me feel better." She looked up and smiled.

"I'm sorry." I smiled and pulled her down to sit on my lap. Much to my relief she didn't move but instead moved so she was resting her head on my shoulder. I just needed to feel close to her again.

"As long as you're safe and feeling better that's all that matters darling." I can't even begin to explain how relieved I felt knowing she was okay. My stomach stopped sinking and my mind stop picturing the worst. I probably have a stomach ulcer by now. I sighed.

"I am sorry I made you all worry. I honestly didn't think." She said softly. I squeezed her slightly.

"It's fine El. Just please don't do that again. I don't think my heart could handle it." Lily said beating me to it. We all chuckled.

"I'm glad you're feeling better." I whispered for her ears only. She nudged my cheek with her nose.

"I'm glad I am too. I don't like being sick." She whispered. I sighed in total content. I could get use to this.

"So, back to homework anyone?" Lily piped up. We all groaned and Ella laughed.

"Come on guys might as well get it over and done with right? Besides I'm all done so I can help." She said.

"Can't you just write mine for me?" I whispered close to her ear. To my amusement I felt her shudder.

"Mr. Black! That would be cheating and we defiantly can't have that." She said turning to face me looking shocked.

"No I suppose not." I replied looking at my feet.

"But I can tell you the answers and you can rewrite them in your own words." She said with a cheeky smile that made my heart wobble. I chuckled.

"Sounds good to me darling."

"Good but I'm not moving." She said before turning away to snuggle into my chest. I couldn't help but admire the way she fit perfectly in sync with my body. I looked up to find everyone staring at me.

"What?" I asked. They shook their heads and smiled their stupid 'we told you so' smirks. I glared and huffed. Damn them for being right. I was totally head over heels for Ella.


	12. Chapter 11

"_**See Hermione? Ella let Sirius cheat!" Ron said nudging Hermione. She blushed slightly.**_

"_**She shouldn't have done that! How would you guys learn if she gave you all the answers?" she said turning to me. I chuckled.**_

"_**Oh she didn't always give us the answers. Nine times out of ten she would give us more questions to the question to help us find the answer." They laughed.**_

"_**Did she ever find out about you guys being animals?" Fred piped up. I raised an eyebrow at him.**_

"_**Sorry I just figured she would have worked it all out since she is so smart and all." I shook my head.**_

"_**No she didn't know for a long time. Well at least that's what she said. One of the best things about Ella was that she never pried nor did she ever ask questions. She only ever asked once where we all went to at night and that was only because she fell asleep on the couch one night and woke when we were sneaking back in. and when we said we just went for a walk she just nodded and went up to bed." I sighed and fiddled with my chain. "She trusted us and we trusted her. Although just between you and me I reckon she knew right from the start." **_

"_**Why?" Ginny asked with a tilt of her head that was worthy of Ella. **_

"_**Like Fred said, she was very clever but also I just think she knew we were lying. You should have seen her before I proposed." I laughed.**_

"_**What happened?" Hermione asked all wide eyed and innocent, obviously looking forward to the romantic part. I shook my head with a smile.**_

"_**I'm not giving away any secrets. It would ruin the story. All I will say is that she was also very crafty along with very smart. She was a cheeky thing that wife of mine." I felt a sudden ache in my heart. All this talk about her and remembering seemed to open the hole she left wider and wider. God all I wanted to do was hold her one last time. I sighed. **_

"_**I think that's all for tonight kiddies. I'm all storied out." I was answered by the usual cries and begging of more and please don't stop's. I stood up not going to back down this time. I needed to stop for awhile and just…get my head together. **_

"_**No. That is all for tonight okay? Keep arguing and I will stop it for good." That seemed to shut them up. They said their goodnights and headed up for bed. I sunk back into my chair and put my head in my hands.**_

"_**Are you sure you're okay telling this Sirius?" Molly soft voice entered the room. I hadn't been aware she was listening. I looked up and nodded.**_

"_**Yeah Molly, I'm okay. It just gets a bit much sometimes and I find myself having to stop."**_

"_**We would all understand if you wanted to stop. We know how hard it is for you." Arthur added coming into view behind his wife. I smiled a weak smile.**_

"_**Thank you but the pain is never going to go away and telling this story yes it does make it worse but at the same time it kinda helps. I'll be fine. I just need a break for tonight." They smiled at me and nodded.**_

"_**Goodnight Sirius." Molly said as they also headed to their room.**_

"_**Goodnight." I said standing up and pouring myself some fire whiskey out of the bottle I secretly kept by my chair. I stared into t he fire as I sipped at it. I couldn't help but think of what would have happened if she was around. Would we have a family by now? I like to think so. We had discussed at one stage that we wanted kids. Ella loved children and we had both agreed three or four would have been perfect. It would be perfect if she was around. I sighed. Everything would be perfect if Voldemort didn't exist. I would have my wife, my best friends and I would have never had thirteen years of my life stolen from me. I sighed again and poured another glass. Why Ella? Why did you have to leave me? **_

Over the next few weeks we managed to get Ella out of her shell just a little bit more. Lily was around more often but hadn't exactly joined our ranks. Moony still had troubles changing at full moon and we were still there to help him and no one knew. Ella and myself were getting a little closer each day and she had now found her favourite position to study…in my lap or curled up with her legs on me. My feelings for her grew and grew with each moment and for once in my life I was actually passing school with a high grade. Life was a wonderful thing… or so we thought.

"Ella! What the hell happened to you?" I yelled jumping up as her and Lily walked into the common room.

"Nothing." She said walking past the couch and heading straight up to the rooms before I could even reach for her. I turned to Lily who was staring at the floor. Ella had never in the time I had come to know her run off and ignored me or any of her friends.

"Lily? What happened?" Remus asked softly. She looked up and I gasped. Both girls had split lips and a few bruises while Lily also had a black eye and a few scratch marks and from the quick glance I saw of Ella she had scratches on her face as well. Lily's uniform was also dirty and ripped in a couple of places. Lily's bottom lip trembled.

"I don't want to talk about it." She mumbled. James came down the stairs whistling a tune.

"Hey-a Evans!" he said smiling, jumping the last two steps but coming to a halt as Lily turned and showed him her face. His smile dropped and he looked both worried and murderous at the same time. He rushed over to her and grabbed her shoulders.

"What the hell happened?" he asked. Lily shook her head.

"I don't want to talk about it." She mumbled again.

"Lil, come on. You're a mess! Please tell me." James said in a soft tone that caused Remus and me to look at each other with raised eyebrows. To our horror Lily started crying.

"It was Matilda and her gang. They cornered Ella and I near the library and started teasing me and then Ella stood up for me and they started on her calling her a slut and a ugly cow and all these other horrible names and Ella just stood there taking it." She paused to wipe her eyes and nose. "She didn't say anything and then Millie got right up in her face and told her she was a coward and worthless trash and that's why her family ditched her here and then out of no where Ella punched her straight in the face. A…and that's when they all just jumped her and started hitting her. I tried to stop but then they turned on me." She was sobbing now. "Ella tried to keep them off of me and she took most the blows and then Millie pulled out her wand and said a spell I've never heard of before and next thing I know Ella is on the ground wriggling in pain! She did not make one sound! I couldn't stop it. I j…just couldn't…" James stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her holding her close to his chest as she broke down. I sat there gripping the chair as hard as I could. Someone made fun of my Ella and then beat her up and cursed her? I was seeing red. No one hurt my girl and got away with it!

"What was the spell Lily?" Remus asked quietly after a few minutes of Lily's sobbing and my silent murderous thoughts. Lily had calmed down but still stayed in James's arms. She sniffed and looked at Remus without moving from his arms. Her eyes looked so sore.

"Crucio I think." She said quietly. "Something like that. I know I have heard of it somewhere I just can't think of where." I turned to Remus and saw him pale.

"Moony, what's wrong?" I asked frowning. He turned to me and shook his head.

"It's an unforgivable." He muttered. I looked at James who shrugged.

"A what?" He asked. Remus licked his lips and took a deep breathe.

"An Unforgivable. McGonagall was talking about it last class remember?" I shook my head.

"You know us Moony we never listen to her." James nodded in agreement.

"The Unforgivable Curses are three main curses. Crucio, Imperias and Adva Kadava or the killing curse." Lily answered quietly, the colour out of her face and her voice just a whisper. A light clicked in my head. I had heard of them…somewhere.

"Wait isn't those spells being used by that psycho Voldemould or something?" I asked trying to remember exactly what I had heard. Remus nodded.

"It's Voldemort actually and yeah. Those three spells are being used to torture, control and kill people who won't join him." Remus said softly. My stomach dropped. My girl was attacked with the torturing curse? Head were defiantly going to roll.

"He is that evil guy we keep hearing about right? The one who is supposedly making an army to over throw the Ministry and take over?" James said with a confused look on his face.

"_**Was it really bad back then Sirius?" Harry asked softly. I nodded sadly.**_

"_**Yeah it was. It was just like it is now. People disappearing, murders, people being controlled and more and more people being scared into joining his army." I sighed and shook my head. "We never really knew much about it til half way through the year when Dumbledore told us everything and also when we left school and joined The Order. We mainly just got snippets of information here and there. No one was really willing to tell a bunch of school students exactly how bad it was." **_

"_**Was Ella okay?" Ginny piped up. "Sorry I just really wanna know what happened." I chuckled and winked.**_

"_**I can take a hint." **_

Lily pulled away slightly.

"He is also killing Muggle borns for sports." She said with a small sad smile. James pulled her close into him again and kissed her head.

"….Will ever happen to you." Was all we could hear. I stood up both worried and pissed off beyond belief. I had heard many things about this Voldemort dickhead and wanted nothing more than to help being him down. So far he had killed around fifty people and apparently his army was getting bigger and bigger. Mind you we didn't really hear much now at school as they didn't want us all to panic but finding out that someone is using one of his curses inside the walls sent shivers down my spine. It made me sick knowing it was Ella who was the one who coped it.

"How do I get up to the girls dormitory?" I asked. Lily pulled away and smiled up at James before looking over at me.

"Boys aren't allowed to go up there. It turns to a slide if they try." she said. She smiled softly at me. "Besides I really don't think she is up to seeing anyone."

"I don't care!" I exploded. "I have to go and see if she is okay! I need to see her." I yelled. Lily shrunk back and I sighed.

"Sorry Lily I'm just worried." I said. She nodded and walked away from James over to the couches.

"I could always ask her to come down?" She offered. I shook my head.

"I know her better. She won't come down. There has to be a away." I sat back down trying to think and at the same time only thinking of Ella.

"Fly." Remus said suddenly. We all turned to look at him.

"Excuse me?" I said chuckling. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Grab your broom and fly up to her window." I sat there shocked at him.

"What? You want to see her and I know you won't shut up til you do and since she won't come down you might as well go up there." He shrugged. I chuckled again.

"Ah Moony my friend I knew I liked you for a reason." I winked and pulled out my wand. James walked over and sat next to Lily on the couch. She smiled at him and allowed him to wrap his arm around her.

"Accio Lightning 300." I said summoning my broom. A few seconds later my broom flew down stairs and stopped directly in front of me.

"This is going to be so cool." I said carrying it over to the window.

"Be careful mate. We need you for the game tomorrow night." James said. Lily hit his chest.

"It's the second window from the left two rows up." She said shaking her head at James. I winked at her.

"Thanks love." I carefully climbed onto the window and hovered my broom just outside of it. Taking a deep breath I carefully threw one leg over it and jumped on. Sighing out loudly I winked at my friends who were looking and flew up to her window.

"_**That is so dangerous Sirius! You could have been killed or worse caught!" Hermione said loudly. We all looked at her like she was insane.**_

"_**Okay firstly, death would be worse then being caught. And secondly I had to see Ella and know if she was okay." I said. She blushed but went to say something else but Ron lent over and put his hand over her mouth.**_

"_**Just leave it Hermione. Any guy would do it." He said. **_

"_**Oh Ronnie kins!" Fred said.**_

"_**You are just the cutest!" George added.**_

"_**Enough you two! Let Sirius continue." Molly interrupted before Ron could retaliate. Ron closed his mouth and the twins just laughed. I bowed my head in a silent thank you and she just smiled. **_

I flew up to her window and saw that it was open. I smiled and flew in, softly landing near her bed. I was shocked to see only two beds were in the room. One of them was neatly made and the other was messy and empty. I landed down my broom and frowned. There was no one in the room. Maybe I had the wrong room. I moved to check the name on the trunk when I felt a cold something at the base of my throat.

"What are you doing here?" a voice hissed in my ear. It was shivers down my back.

"I was checking to see if you were okay." I said nervous and excited at the same time. Don't ask me why I was a teenager with weird hormones. Where the hell did she come from? I felt the cold thing move from my throat.

"I'm sorry Sirius. All I saw was something coming towards my window. I didn't realise it was you." Ella said as I turned around. Her face was still hidden by the shadows. I smiled and reached out to touch her. She cringed away and I let my hand drop.

"I just came to see if you were okay." I whispered sadly. She stepped to the right and into the soft light. My jaw almost dropped to the ground. She only had a few faint bruises and a small black ring around her eye. She had changed out of her uniform and into a singlet and trackie pants. Her hair was pulled up off of her face and I could see the faint marks of nails down her neck.

"I'm fine as you can tell." She said softly. I reached up very slowly and went to touch them. To my relief she stood still and let me.

"How?" I asked dumbstruck as I ran my fingers over the scratches and bruises. She smiled.

"Healing spell." I smiled back and wrapped my arms around her pulling her into me.

"God I was worried about you." I whispered into her hair. I felt her arms wrap around my waist.

"I'm okay. I've had worse. She just got to me." she mumbled. I pulled her away at arms length.

"I was so scared when I heard she used Crucio on you." To my surprise she chuckled. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"It wasn't a very good one." She said walking over to her bed (the messy one)

"What do you mean?" I asked following her. She sighed and patted the bed next to her. I sat down and turned slightly so I could see her.

"Remember when you found me that night?" she started. I nodded and stroked her cheek softly.

"How could I ever forget? It was the night I met you." I replied smirking as she blushed.

"And remember when I woke up and James demanded that I tell you what exactly happened but I didn't?" I nodded deciding not to talk. She sighed again.

"I was captured by his men." She mumbled. My jaw dropped.

"Whose men?" I asked scared to know the answer. She looked up at me.

"Voldemort's." I felt like I had been slapped in the face. Ella, my innocent little angel Ella had been a prisoner of the worst person on earth!


	13. Chapter 12

"_**Oh my god!" Both Ginny and Hermione's hands flew to their mouths.**_

"_**How the hell did she get away?" Harry asked. I shrugged.**_

"_**You'll have to wait and find out." I said not really in the mood now to play nice. **_

"_**No wonder she was so scarred!" Ron added. They all nodded.**_

"_**Poor thing." Molly mumbled. I looked over at her and saw her biting her lip. She knew the story of what had happened to Ella almost as well as I did. Ella grew very close to her after school as Molly grew close to her. I nodded and sighed.**_

"W…what?" I asked stunned. She nodded.

"I was captured by Voldemort's men and dragged back to his hide out. I was there for two months while they interrogated me."

"About what? What did you have that they wanted?" I asked confused as to why he would go to so much trouble to hunt down a kid.

"I don't know. I don't even remember what they kept asking all I know was that I didn't have a clue what they were talking about and Everytime I said so they tortured me." I wrapped my arms around her and held her as tightly as I could.

"How the hell did you escape?" I whispered. I felt her giggle on my chest as she snuggled in.

"I tricked the guards and pretended to give in. They let me out and were taking me to Voldemort and his important men and I somehow managed to escape. He was not happy. I heard him yelling as I ran. His men followed me and chased me for almost an hour. They kept cursing me and throwing things at me. I had no energy to fight back and then the next think I know I'm waking up and seeing you." I sighed.

"No wonder you don't like people." I mumbled feeling confused, angry and scared for her. What made her so special? She pulled away and looked at me.

"I don't hate all people." She said softly reaching up to stroke my face. I sighed and lent into her hand. "I like you Sirius." I smiled and kissed the palm of her hand.

"I like you to Esmerelda." I smiled. She blushed and slowly lent forward. My heart jumped in my throat. Did she seriously want me to kiss her? Was I really going to kiss her? I had wanted to for so long! I closed my eyes and lent in to meet her half away. When our lips met I felt fireworks explode in my head. I had never felt anything like it. It was powerful and sweet and so over whelming. Her lips tasted like strawberry's so sweet and delicious. I pulled away and realise she literally had taken my breath away. She opened her eyes and stared at me.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know…" I interrupted her with another kiss. They were so addictive.

"Don't apologise." I whispered leaning my forehead on hers. She giggled and sighed.

"You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that for." I mumbled.

"Probably for as long as I wanted to." She replied with a cheeky smile. I chuckled and pulled away to lay down on her pillow. She lay down next to me and sighed.

"Did it feel good?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Did what feel good?" she asked rolling over to look at me. I rolled onto my side as well and breathed in her scent. God it was amazing.

"Punching Millie…did it feel good?" I asked again. Ella burst out laughing.

"I can't believe i did it! She just got me so mad!" she said giggling. I smiled.

"Answer the question missy." She shook her head.

"No Sirius it didn't feel good. It felt bloody amazing! Although her face is a lot harder than I expected." I couldn't help but laugh.

"Ah Ella you are one of a kind." I said tucking a few stray hairs from her face. She blushed slightly and placed her hand over mine as I put it in the space between us.

"As are you Sirius Black."

"We laid there for another hour or so just talking until Lily at the door interrupted us. And after Ella had healed Lily's face we all went down for dinner. I couldn't shake the thought of Ella trapped by Voldemort for so long but at the same time I couldn't get that kiss out of my head."

"_**Oh Sirius you are such a mush bag!" George pretended to gag.**_

"_**Yeah bugger the corny bits give us more action and pranks!" Fred added. Ginny smacked him in the stomach.**_

"_**It isn't corny it is romantic, something you two wouldn't know about." She said causing me to start laughing. "Besides, it's how Sirius met and married his wife! Of course it's going to be romantic in bits! You don't like it you can leave." Fred and George shook their heads.**_

"_**We're right here thank you." Fred said. I shook my head and Ginny turned to face me.**_

"_**Please keep going." I bowed my head.**_

"_**As my lady wishes. For the past few days things between Ella and me only got better. She was a bit embarrassed about the whole kissing thing but didn't make it awkward by avoiding me thank god. She just blushed and bit her lip Everytime she looked over at me or giggled when she caught me staring. About four days after the kiss I found myself wide wake and decided to head to the common room." **_

The fire was still burning brightly which I found odd considering it was 3 AM. I could see the top of someone's head over the top of the couch. My heart quickened in my chest.

"Bit late for reading isn't it?" I asked. Ella jumped and the book fell off her lap.

"Oh Sirius! You scared me." She said smiling slightly. God she looked beautiful. She was curled up in the corner of the couch in a big jumper about three sizes to big for her with her legs curled under her. Her hair was out and sitting to the side exposing one side of her gorgeous neck. I found myself wondering what it would be like to kiss.

"Sorry." I said sitting down the one of the arm chairs. "Can't sleep?" she shook her head and picked up her book.

"Yeah me either. Doesn't really help with Remus snoring, Peter farting and James mumbling Lily every ten seconds." She giggled.

"I don't see why they don't just date already." She rolled her head to side to look at me properly.

"Me either but I think something is actually happening there. I found them snogging in the corridor a few days ago." I frowned at the cover of the book. "What are you reading?" she blushed and fidgeted. I held in a laugh. She was so innocent and cute sometimes…well no actually all times but…well you know what I mean!

"Romeo and Juliet." She mumbled. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"That's a Muggle love story set years ago." I frowned deeper at her.

"I never really picked you to be a romantic sop Ella." She smiled at me.

"Just because I don't go around announcing it publicly doesn't mean I don't mind the odd love story or romance." Hmmm so she is into old school romance...interesting. "And just because you have never read or done anything romantic doesn't mean you can pick on those who have." She said nodding once before turning back to her book.

"Personally I think Romeo is an idiot. He killed his lover's cousin, broke up a marriage then offed himself! Absolute loser. " I piped up minutes later. The look on her face was priceless. I couldn't help but laugh. She looked like someone had hit her in the face with an old fish.

"You…you've read Romeo and Juliet?" she stuttered. "You…as in…THE Sirius Black…read a Muggle romance book?" I couldn't help but chuckle at her. She really was stunned.

"I have been known to read Ella. I'm not as stupid as I look." To my amusment she blushed. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen. She lowered her eyes and looked up at me through her long eyelashes.

"I don't think you're stupid Sirius. "She whispered. I smiled at her.

"Well that's good to know." I said before sliding down to sit next to her. She blushed again at how close we were.

"_**But hadn't you guys been hugging and sitting on each other and stuff like that?" Harry interrupted. I nodded.**_

"_**Not to mention the fact you guys snogged a couple of days before." Ron added in. again I nodded. **_

"_**That's what threw me. We had been very close for ages but after that night Everytime I touched her or we were close she always blushed. It was in a way rather cute and funny."**_

"_**It's because she liked you as well right?" Hermione said excitedly. I chuckled.**_

"_**Well if it's alright with you lot I could get back to the story and let you know?" I said. They nodded; excitement and amusement all clear in their eyes. I shook my head and got more comfortable before starting again.**_

"And by the way, Romeo is not a loser. He was just in love." Ella said turning back to the book. I shook my head.

"No he is a loser. A prat in fact." She turned with a horrified look on her face.

"He is not! He did all that for his loved one!" she said. I smiled.

"He killed himself. How is that love?" I asked. She frowned at me.

"He only killed himself because he believed Juliet was dead. He only killed himself because he didn't want to live without her! Not that love is something you would understand." She snapped before standing up.

"I would do the same." I mumbled. She looked at me.

"What?"

"I would do the same." I looked up at her. "If you died I don't think I could live without you. You die, I die." She sat back down, her eyes never leaving mine.

"What are you saying?" she asked. I sighed and grabbed her hands. No time like the present to explain how you feel.

"Esmerelda, I am saying that if anything happened to you I would personally hunt those who did it down and kill them. I am saying that if you died I would die as I couldn't imagine my life without you and I don't want to." I swallowed the large lump in my throat. "Ella, I am saying that i…I really, really like you." She gasped softly.

"Really?" she asked. I nodded.

"Really, really." She blushed and bit the side of the lip.

"I really, really like you to Sirius." She whispered. My heart sang. She actually returned the feelings! I was so worried she was going to shut me down.

"I know we haven't known each other for every long and I know I'm not the easiest guy to understand but…" I took another deep breath. "Esmerelda, will you do me the honors of being my girlfriend?" her jaw dropped. My stomach dropped with it. That wasn't a good sign.

"I…I don't know what to say." She mumbled. Yep defiantly not a good sign. I sighed and let go of her hands.

"Of course I will." She whispered. I looked at her.

"Really?" I asked. She laughed at me.

"Really, really." She said before pulling me into a kiss. I smiled and wrapped my arms around her back, pulling her closer. After a few minutes I pulled away and again rested my forehead on hers.

"Hello girlfriend." I whispered.

"Hello boyfriend." She smiled rubbing her nose against mine. I smiled. Today was the best day of my life.

"_**Oh that is so romantic." Ginny sighed.**_

"_**Why ask her out then? Why not wait?" Harry asked.**_

"_**Seemed like the right time. I had always loved her even before I knew her name. You can always tell someone is the one because you fall in love at first sight and don't know it til later on." I didn't miss the look between Ginny and Harry and Ron and Hermione. That was going to be interesting. **_

"_**Come on everyone. It's time for bed. I think you have heard enough for today." Molly said. To my surprise no one groaned.**_

"_**What no complaining?" I asked. They smiled and shook their heads.**_

"_**Mum told us if we complain at all or make a sound then you will stop for good." Ron said.**_

"_**And we don't want you to stop." Harry smiled. I nodded.**_

"_**How grown up of you all." They laughed and said their good nights. **_

"_**You off to bed?" Molly asked after they all left and all the doors had been shut. I shook my head.**_

"_**I think I'll stay up for awhile." She nodded and left me in peace.**_

"_**Goodnight Sirius." **_

"_**Night Molly." **_


	14. Chapter 13

"Oh aren't they cute?"

"They certainly look comfortable. What do you reckon happened?"

"They probably just fell asleep talking."

"Yes but what were they doing down here in the first place?"

"I was trying to get a decent night sleep without snoring farting or random names being mumbled if you tosspots must know." I groaned in answer to the voices that were around me.

"Oh you're awake." I opened my eyes and saw Lily, James and Remus standing around me.

"What are you guys doing?" I groaned. Lily giggled.

"We were wondering the same thing." She said. I raised an eyebrow at her. She nodded towards the couch which I was laying on. I looked down and saw a small Figure curled into me. I smiled and brushed her hair away. Ella was dead to the world and so tightly curled into my body that I found I could hardly move. Not that I would have moved if I has a choice.

"I came downstairs last night and she was still awake so we talked and we must have fallen asleep." I said dropping my voice so she could sleep longer. It was a Saturday after all.

"Sure mate." James laughed.

"Shhh! You'll wake her up." I hissed. They all smiled at me.

"What did you guys talk about?" Remus asked with the decency to hide his smirk.

"Romeo and Juliet actually." I said covering a yawn.

"Looks like it was a long night." James said winking. Lily giggled and hit his chest.

"Stop it James." She said laughing as he grabbed her hand and pulled her into him.

"Keep it down!" I said softly with a shake of my head. She covered her mouth and kept giggling. Ella stirred slightly. We all froze.

"See? You're going to wake her up! Leave us alone and find someone else to annoy." I whispered. James shook his head.

"Nope I'm happy right here. Aren't you guys?" he looked around as they others started to laugh.

"Defiantly." Remus said and Lily nodded.

"We are interested in Romeo and Juliet. You should explain it." She said.

"Yeah did you guys get to the kissing bit?"

"Or did you get stuck at the hidden romance?" and with that they started laughing loudly. I tried to shut them up but it was too late. Ella stirred and slowly opened her eyes.

"Ah hello sleeping beauty." James said smiling. Ella groaned.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked softly.

"It's the Common Room Ella its common for people to come here." James replied chuckling.

"Just ignore them darl. They are reading into something innocent." I whispered. She jumped and turned slightly to look at me.

"Morning." She said with a soft smile.

"Morning." I replied. She turned back around and stood up. She stretched making the jumper to pull up slightly. I almost choked. She had a very nice pair off legs. The jumper sat mid thigh normally but as she stretched it sat almost under her butt. I could see some scarring at the back of the legs and I couldn't help but think of what she told me. I felt sick to my stomach. There was no way in hell that anyone was ever doing anything like that to her again I promised to myself. Not while I was in her life.

"I'm having a shower then I'll meet you guys back here okay?" she said putting her arms down and looking around. I stood up as well and nodded.

"Need some company?" I asked. She turned and smiled at me.

"Not this time. Maybe later." She said before putting her hands on either side of my face and pulling me in for a kiss. My stomach swooped and I felt like I was floating. We moved apart and smiled.

"See you in a second." I said. She nodded and we started walking away. I silently counted to three in my head.

"Wait just a minute!" James yelled. Ella and I both stopped and turned around. We started laughing at the stunned looks on everyone's face.

"Something?" I asked innocently. I turned to Ella who was wearing a very mischievous smile on her face. She looked over at me and shrugged. It seems to me that my girl liked to wind them all up as much as I did. My stomach whooped at that thought. My girl…she was finally my girl through and through and if it went all according to plan she would be my girl for a very longer time. Now that I had her I wasn't looking to leave her anytime soon. I don't think my heart or mind could handle it.

"Don't play coy with me missy. You both know exactly what we are talking about and you have about two seconds to start explaining or I will curse you into telling us everything." Lily said putting her hands on her hips and pulling herself up to full height. I looked over at Ella who was smiling at Lily. She wasn't going to say anything. That was defiantly my girl.

"Yeah, you wanna tell us what the hell that was?" James asked I held in a chuckle. He absolutely hated being kept out of the loop and that kiss would have sent his mid spinning. Ah my dear friend, pay back is a dish best serve hot and no one was hotter than Ella.

"That's called a kiss James. Maybe one day when you're lucky you'll get one from someone special." Ella replied looking from Lily to James both who blushed. This caused me to laugh. The look on James and Lily's faces were priceless, all blushes and stunned looks unlike the cool collected look Ella wore. She just smiled and walked up to the dorms. James, Remus and Lily all turned to me but I just shrugged.

"It's like she said, it called a kiss." I said before walking up to the dorms, leaving three extremely confused and annoyed friends behind.

"I can't believe you two are dating!" Lily exclaimed. I smiled and wrapped my arm tighter around Ella's waist. I'm so glad it was the weekend. That meant spending the whole two days doing nothing but cuddling and relaxing.

"What can I say…I'm irresistible to the ladies." I winked at Lily who rolled her eyes.

"How can you stand that ego?" Lily asked turning to Ella. Ella shrugged as she swallowed her mouthful of egg.

"Let's just say he is lucky he is good looking." She smiled. I gasped mockingly and held my free hand to my heart.

"Oh Ella! You struck me deep my love." I replied. They laughed and shook their heads.

"Oh Ella I would love to strike you deep." A slivery voice sounded behind us. I turned around and sneered.

"Get lost did we Malfoy? Can't find your way to your table" I said loudly.

"It's the one filled with all the idiots and scum bags of London." James added standing up. Ella I noticed just sat there eating her eggs.

"I don't normally drop my standards to a Gryffindork but for someone as…delicious as you I am willing to make an exception." Malfoy said ignoring James and I. I snorted.

"As if she would be interested in someone like you." I snapped standing up. Malfoy smirked at me.

"It would be better than being with someone who is disowned and homeless. Besides, I can take care of her better than you ever could." I clenched my fists and counted down from twenty in my head. I didn't want to lose my temper in front of the teachers but I swear to god I will kill him if he makes one more crack.

"Run along Malfoy." Lily said softly. Ella still didn't react. Malfoy sneered viciously at her.

"Don't you dare talk to me you filthy Mudblood." He spat. James and I went to remove our wands but to my surprise Ella beat us to it. She held her wand to the base of Malfoy's neck. He looked at her in horror while we looked on in shock and amazement. How the hell did she move so fast?

"I have warned you before Malfoy to stay away and yet here you are. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough for you." She said before waving her wand. Malfoy's long blonde hair suddenly turned black, his skin turned a fluoro pink and his robes became a golden dress with a red handbag. The hall erupted in laughter, James and myself laughing the hardest. Malfoy was looking around in horror then looked up at Ella who was smiling at him.

"You filthy god for nothing…!" Ella lifted her wand at him and he stopped, swallowing loudly.

"Keep going Malfoy I dare you." She said softly in a dark voice. Note to self: do not get on her bad side…EVER!

"What is going on here?" McGonagall interrupted. Malfoy instantly turned on the sob story.

"I was just walking past and stopped to compliment Ella when they suddenly verbally attacked me and before I could defend myself they did this to me!" he pointed down at himself. McGonagall looked like she was about to start laughing but her being her she managed to keep it of her face. She turned to Ella who turned to meet her eye.

"Is this true Ms Hart?" She asked. Ella sighed and shook her head.

"No Professor but I did turn him into that." She smiled as she looked over at Malfoy.

"Ms Hart! We do not tolerate students using magic on one another! Go to Professor Dumbledore's office and wait for him there. He will see to your suitable punishment." McGonagall said. Ella bowed her head blew a kiss at Malfoy and kissed me on the cheek before grabbing her bag and walking out of the hall. I turned angrily to Professor McGonagall.

"Come on Professor! You know he provoked it!" I yelled. She turned and raised an eyebrow at me.

"I don't care who started it Mr Black. I am finishing it. Mr Malfoy, follow me and we will…get you fixed up." She turned on her heel and left. I was outraged. Why do they have to pick on Ella when Malfoy was such a tosspot? Anyone with eyes or ears could see that it was his fault. I sighed and turned back around in my seat.

"Don't worry mate. Ella will tell her story and Dumbledore will let her off." James said still chuckling.

"She still shouldn't have done that." Lily said quietly.

"It was pretty funny." I chuckled again.

"Did you see how fast she moved though?" Remus piped up wiping tears from his eyes. "It was like lightning!" we all nodded.

"She has to teach me that spell." Said Lily. "I would love to do it to Malfoy next time he calls me a Mudblood." I stood up.

"Where are you going?" James asked half way through biting a piece of toast.

"I'm going to go and see what punishment she gets. I'll meet you guys in the Common room." They nodded and waved me off. I raced through the hallways and stopped at the Gargoyles guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's study.

"What's the rush Speedy?" one asked.

"Yeah where's the fire?" the other asked.

"Did a girl go up there? Like ten minutes ago?" I asked trying to catch my breath.

"A lot of people go up here sonny! You expect us to remember every face?" the first one said.

"We're good but we ain't that good." The second one replied and they both laughed. I shook my head.

"No but she is pretty unforgettable." I muttered deciding to just wait. About ten minutes later the statues opened and out came Ella followed by Dumbledore.

"Ah Mr Black, What are you doing here?" He asked smiling kindly at me.

"Just waiting for Ella." I said smiling at her. She smiled back and walked over to me. Dumbledore nodded and winked.

"Young love is such a wondrous thing. Treasure it well." He winked at us. Ella giggled. "I will see you Monday Miss Hart. Good day to you both." And with a whirl of his dark blue robes, he was off down the hallway. I turned to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

"So, was he harsh?" I asked. Ella giggled and kissed my cheek before starting to move back towards the Common Room.

"Of course not. I don't ever think that man could be harsh. All he said was that I was to see him every Monday for the next two weeks and that next time I shouldn't use so much pink." We laughed and I shook my head.

"Why do you have to see him?"

"As my punishment, I have to help him sort out his office but he said it will only take two days and it's better to spread it out so I can finish homework and it's on Monday so I can enjoy my weekend." She shrugged. I glared at the figure coming towards us. She tilted her head at me.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Hello Snivellus." I snapped as the figure came into the light. Ella frowned as well but I didn't know why.

"What you are two doing here?" He said. I growled deep in my throat.

"That's none of your business." I snarled. God I hated this kid with a passion. He turned to Ella and his eyes widened. He ducked his head and suddenly tore off down the corridor.

"Okay that was weird." I stated. Ella nodded still frowning.

"Maybe it's my reputation." She said turning to me with a smile before I could ask what's wrong. I had to laugh at that.

"Oh which is that? Being my girlfriend and everyone being jealous of you or the one where you're telling everyone who wonderful and amazing I am?" I asked. She laughed and slapped my chest.

"Funny babe. Real funny." I stopped her just as we reached the Fat Lady. She raised an eyebrow at me.

"What did you call me?" I asked. Ella blushed.

"I'm sorry I heard someone call their boyfriends babe and I just thought I would throw it in there." She mumbled. I chuckled at the innocence of her.

"Don't worry about it love. I rather like it. It's kinda sexy." I wriggled my eyebrows and she laughed as I pulled her into me. We lent in for a kiss before a cough interrupted us.

"Don't mean to interrupt but I have a date with Violet so if you wouldn't mind? Otherwise you can stay put here." The Fat Lady said. Ella turned around and bowed at her.

"We're sorry. We got caught up in the moment. Nobility." She said. The Fat Lady looked chuffed at the bow and swung open wide.

"Apology accepted." She said as we climbed in.

"You have everyone wrapped around your finger don't you?" I said as we stepped into the Common Room. She threw me a wink over her shoulder.

"Perhaps, but you are the only one I want to keep there." I roared with laughter as we sat down with the others near the fire.


	15. Chapter 14

"_**I love this girl! She has a comeback for everything!" Fred said laughing. George was wiping tears from his eyes. **_

"_**She is golden!" he said. "We need more Ella's in the world."**_

"_**Ah that wouldn't be a very good idea." I said chuckling. "Trust me one Ella was more than a handful." They laughed.**_

"_**Did Malfoy want revenge?" Harry piped up. I smiled knowingly.**_

"_**Of course he is a Malfoy! He developed a weird obsession with her which sort of creeped us all out but the good news is that our Ella knew how to handle him well." **_

"_**what was the deal with Snape?" Ron asked. **_

"_**Yeah, he acted scared of her." Hermione added. The laughter fell off my face. This was one of the parts of the story that I dreaded. I hated what happened and I hated talking about it. I sighed and shook my head.**_

"_**You will have to wait for that part kiddies. it will wreck everything if I spill the beans now." That and I am trying to avoid it as much as possible. I added in my mind. **_

"_**Knowing Snape, he was probably more scared of the fact that she would tough his perfectly greasy hair and maybe actually wash it as a punishment for being a chum to Malfoy." Fred piped up.**_

"_**Oh that would have defiantly scared him!" I laughed. "Hmmm, shame we never thought of doing that to him. He did everything else but that would have been more horrible than anything we did. Damn it." We all laughed. **_

"_**Come have some food. You've been in here for hours." Molly said poking her head in. I smiled and stood up.**_

"_**Ah I do love that woman." I said sighing.**_

"_**Did Ella ever cook?" Harry asked falling in step with me. I chuckled.**_

"_**Ah she tried. It took her awhile…actually it took her forever but she had a few things down pact that she managed to cook without burning." **_

"_**Oh don't be so horrible Sirius Black!" Molly interrupted as we walked into the kitchen. "That girl was a saint to you and a brilliant wife. You didn't starve and she had a knack for cooking." I smiled.**_

"_**I know I was only teasing. The only thing she could really cook was noodles and sweets." I added the last bit for Harry's ears only. He chuckled.**_

"_**I love noodles and sweets. I could deal with that." He said. I nodded.**_

"_**they were pretty amazing noodles and sweets." I wriggled my eyebrows at him as we sat down. He smiled and shook his head. **_

"_**I would have loved to have met her." He said suddenly. I sighed as the hole in my chest ripped a little bit more.**_

"_**Ah Harry ma boy, she spoiled you rotten every time she saw you which was almost every day. You were her little man and trust me when I say you returned the love almost equally."**_

"_**Did you ever have children Sirius?" Hermione asked quietly. The hole ripped more.**_

"_**We…ah…" I cleared my throat. "We lost ours and we never had the chance to try again." I licked my lips and cleared my throat again, the memories of that day coming back. **_

"_**Oh Sirius, I am so sorry!" Ginny reached over and grabbed my hand. I smiled slightly.**_

"_**It's alright. We got through it." I replied. **_

"_**What happened to her? Did she…?" Hermione's question hung in the air like a bad smell. I shook my head.**_

"_**That is another secret I am not telling just yet. You will have to wait and find out. Excuse me." I pushed myself up and almost ran out of the room. I leaned against the wall and let the built up tears fall. I hadn't thought about our lost child in god knows how long. This was getting way too much. I walked up to my room and collapsed on my bed. I had lost everything in that month. My child, my best friends, my wife and my life all taken from me by all different reasons…well kinda. I would never get those back. Never again would I get those precious moments back. **_

"Ella are you okay?" I asked frowning at her. She was deathly pale and shaking slightly. She nodded.

"Yeah I'm alright just...a bit queasy. I think it was the chicken." She replied. We were sitting on the couch snuggling up while Lily and James sitting side by side next to us and Remus on the floor in front of the fire reading a book. Peter had disappeared somewhere.

"You've been looking pretty sick lately. You sure you are okay?" Lily asked. Ella nodded and stood up.

"I've got to see Dumbledore. I'll see you in a bit." She said before rushing out of the Common Room.

"Okay anyone else think it's really weird how she sees Dumbledore every time she feels sick?" I asked turning to everyone. They nodded.

"Anyone notice how she has been getting sicker and sicker more frequently?" Lily added. I nodded.

"Anyone notice how she seems to get better after she sees Dumbledore?" Remus piped up quietly. I frowned. I thought nothing of it til then.

"You know Mooney you're right. She looks terrible before seeing him and then as soon as she gets back she is fine if not better than ever." James answered clicking his fingers. I nodded absently thinking why that is.

"You know Dumbledore guys. He probably has a million and one things to give her to make her feel better." Lily said, always the voice of reason.

"Yeah but why not go to the Nurse like everyone else?" I said.

"Have you met the Nurse? She isn't exactly the warm and fuzzy type. Besides Ella is still weird around new people and Dumbledore is one of few she trusts. I think we should just be happy she gets better and stop trying to find something wrong with it." Lily said nodding and turning back to her book. I sighed and nodded, not really agreeing but not wanting to start a Lily lecture. She did have a point in how Ella gets better but something about it just seemed odd and now thinking about it I wanted to know why. I looked up to ask Mooney a question and saw him wipe his forehead dry of sweat. I sighed. It was full moon tomorrow and he was looking pale and sickly, just like Ella. I bolted up right.

"You right mate?" James asked raising an eyebrow at me.

"You know how Remus gets that look about him?" I asked trying to make him understand with my eyes. He frowned and I nodded discreetly to Remus on the floor. James looked at him and understanding crossed his face. He turned back to me and nodded.

"Notice how Ella gets the same look about her?" I said softly. James's eyebrows shot up into his hair.

"Shit mate, I never thought about that." He said running his hands through his hair. Remus too shot up.

"Don't be ridiculous!" he said frowning. "She can't be."

"Why not?" I argued. "We know nothing about her, she is from Romania and you look exactly the same so why not?"

"It's not possible." He mumbled. James shook his head.

"Padfoot's right mate, how do we know?"

"She gets sick all the time not just like me. If she is like me explain that?" Remus challenged. Damn it, he had me there.

"True. Didn't really think of that." I replied leaning back frowning. If it wasn't that then what was it? Lily raised an eyebrow.

"What are you boys talking about?" She asked.

"Nothing love, Just guy things." James said stroking her cheek. She blushed. "Nothing to worry about."

"I hate it when you do that and you do it all the time! Can't you just for once tell me? She is my friend to and I thought you all were as well." Lily snapped.

"We are Lil, it's just…" I stopped myself. What can we say to her? Remus's 'flurry little problem' was a secret that only we knew and we swore it would stay that way.

"Just what? You don't trust me?" she stood up. I sighed. Great here we go. Another female tantrum. I liked Lily I really did but sometimes I wish she didn't read so much into something and over react.

"Babe it's not that at all." James attempted to say.

"Don't you call me Babe James Potter! You are all just the same as the rest!" and with that she picked up her book and stomped up the girls' steps. James sighed and shook his head.

"She is going to ignore me for a week again." He mumbled. I leant over and slapped him on the back.

"Ah well mate at least you'll get some peace and quiet. " I said before leaning back. He chuckled half-heartedly.

"Ah well it will give her time to calm down and realise that I did nothing wrong for once." He turned to Remus. "So we still on for tomorrow night?" Remus nodded and wiped his forehead again.

"Aren't we always around this time?" he replied sourly. I chuckled.

"It won't be that bad Moony. We'll all be with you." I said trying to make him feel better.

"What about Ella?" Remus asked. I frowned at him.

"What about her?"

"Well you two are together now so what are you going to tell her where you are going?" shit, I hadn't thought about that.

"That won't be an issue. She knows we go out on a 'guy's night' once a month. She'll just think it will be that." James said stretching back. "No harm done."

"I don't like lying to her though." I said softly.

"Ah don't be silly. A healthy relationship is based on small white lies." James waved away what I said. "Besides, would you rather be with her or tell her the truth and have her dump your ass for being a freak?"

"Fair point." I nodded. I would much rather have her around and lie once a month than live without her and tell her the truth as horrible as that sounds. The portrait opened and in came Ella looking a little bit better and carrying a bottle of something.

"Ah speak of the devil." James said looking over the couch with a smile. She smiled back and tweaked his nose as she sat down. I smiled and wrapped my arms around her. She was still pale and the dark circles under her eyes were still there but over all she looked a lot better. I frowned.

"Hey sweetheart? You have something on your lip." I said pointing at the dark smudge. She quickly wiped it off. She looked at the back off her hand and I noticed whatever it was looked a lot like blood.

"Urg I thought I got it all." She said laughing. To me and I'm sure to everyone else it sounded forced.

"Got what?" Remus asked sitting up.

"The potion Dumbledore gave me. I dribbled some and thought I had gotten it all. Apparently not."

"What potion was it?" Remus tilted his head at her. She swallowed loudly and her eyes darted around. I frowned. She was lying. Why though?

"I have no idea to be honest. All I know is that it makes me better, looks like blood and tastes nasty." She looked at the floor. I decided I was imagining her lying.

"You okay now?" I whispered. She nodded and smiled at me.

"Much. Dumbledore even gave me the potion for when I feel sick again." She waved the green bottle around. I nodded.

"That's good news." And I kissed her again.

"Hey Ella?" James piped up.

"Yes James?" She turned to him and smiled.

"We were wondering why it is that you go to Dumbledore when you are sick rather than the nurse?" I mentally slapped myself. What the hell was he thinking? It's her business why! He doesn't have to go prying!

"Because the nurse scares me to be perfectly honest and I trust Dumbledore and between you and me I think he knows a lot more about helping people than the nurse does." Ella shrugged. "I just feel more comfortable there." She had echoed everything Lily had said before. We all nodded.

"We thought that darl; we just thought we would see if we were right." I said nuzzling her neck. She giggled and pushed me off before standing.

"Well I'll be back in a minute. Just wanna put this up." She kissed my cheek and ran up the stairs.

"Well that was bullshit." Remus said as soon as she was out of view. I sighed and turned to him.

"Pick up on the false laugh to huh?" they nodded.

"Bit hard not to." James said. "I wonder why she is lying though."

"Maybe she doesn't trust us." I said staring at the fireplace.

"That's crap. We are like the only ones she actually trusts." James snorted.

"We can't really say anything." Remus added. James and I looked at him funnily.

"Well it's not we are 100% honest with her either." He shrugged. "We all have our secrets." I couldn't argue with him there and as much as I sound like a hypocrite, I really didn't like Ella having secrets from me. Before I could pounder the point further, Lily came flying down the stairs in a huff and stormed out the portrait without another word. Ella appeared half way down the stairs just as the portrait slammed closed. She sighed as she reached the end of the stairs before turning on us.

"Oh no." I whispered.

"She has that look in her eye." James muttered. There was one look that every male should be scared of and that is the 'what the hell have you done?' look that females get all the time and as soon as you see that glimmer in their eyes it is advised for the safety of your manhood to run for cover or just shut the hell up and agree. Ella marched over to us and stood in front of James with the arms crossed. Between you and I and I will never admit this out loud to her or anyone else but she was so sexy when she was mad!

"James Potter! What the hell did you do?" she demanded. I snorted as James slunk in his chair and she turned to me.

"Don't you dare laugh mister you are in just as much trouble as he is." I shut up instantly and sunk in my own chair. She turned back James.

"I don't know what you are talking about." He said meekly. She glared at him and we all cringed. She had the hardest glare in the history of glares. It was enough to turn someone to stone.

"You know exactly what I am talking about Potter! Tell me what you said to Lily to make her so upset or so help me Goddess I will curse you into next year!" Ella demanded pulling herself up to full height to tower or James.

"He didn't really do anything Ella we were just talking about something and she got cranky when we didn't explain it to her." Remus stepped in. She turned and frowned at him. He didn't cower although I swear I saw him flinch.

"Really?" She asked. All three of us nodded. She sighed and the anger seemed to vanish…slightly.

"You will go down there right now and you will say sorry for being a prat and you ask her out to dinner as a way of apologising." Ella said turning back to James. He opened his mouth to protest but stopped when Ella raised her eyebrow. That too is also a female move you should avoid at all costs. When that eyebrow pops up that is when you shut the hell up and give in or buy her chocolate. Keep going with the argument or whatever will end up in sleeping alone or ball loose.

"Did you hear me?" Ella demanded. James jumped up and nodded.

"Okay, okay where is she?" he asked.

"She will be in the library. Now go! And make sure you mean it!" she yelled as he all but ran out of the portrait. She sighed and sat on the couch.

"Darling? "I asked unsure on whether or not I should be speaking. She turned and smiled at me.

"Yes Sirius?" She was all sugar and flowers now.

"You okay?" Remus asked also looking unsure. To our surprise she laughed.

"Oh course. I just thought James needed a kick up the ass to get started. Besides he needs to take her out." My jaw literally dropped. She was playing us.

"You weren't angry at all! You were just pretending!" I accused. Ella nodded and smiled.

"It worked though didn't it?" I shook my head. Of all the things to do.

"Well played Ella. Well played indeed." Remus chuckled. She mocked bowed and smiled again.

"Not my fault he believed me. Besides being a female and being angry always gets results." Ella winked. I chuckled. She was a minx this one.

"Remind me to never get on the wrong side of you." I replied. She smiled at stroked my cheek.

"Ah Sirius you forget if you get on the wrong side of me you wouldn't live past two minutes." We chuckled but somehow I kinda believed her.


	16. Chapter 15

"_**There should so be more Ella's in this world!" Fred said pumping his fist in the air.**_

"_**She is so amazing!" Ginny laughed. Remus shook his head. He had popped over to keep me company and to see everyone for a while and ended up staying to hear the story even though he knew it all already. **_

"_**Trust me, one Ella was enough. She managed to keep us on our toes enough. Having two would be crazy." We laughed. **_

"_**And we aren't even up to the good bits yet." I winked. They all looked at me super excited and I had to laugh.**_

"_**So more tonight or are you all tired?" I asked knowing the answer before I asked the question. They all yelled their need for more. I looked up at Molly.**_

"_**Mrs Wesley, is that okay with you?" I asked. She giggled and nodded.**_

"_**Only a little bit more then off to bed." They all cheered and settled down to listen to more. **_

"_**Okay I'm fast forwarding it until the next morning right before we were about to leave to help Remus change only because this is when it starts getting really interesting." **_

"Good morning my gorgeous girl." I said as she came down the stairs. I had to smile. She looked so pretty in jeans and a cream blouse with her boots and a knitted cardigan. She blushed and giggled.

"Good morning my wonderful boyfriend." I smiled and pulled her into a kiss.

"Oh do you guys have to do that right here?" Lily interrupted us. I pulled away to nod at her.

"Yes, yes we do." I replied before kissing Ella again. Ella shook her head and pulled again.

"Come on I'm starving!" she said pulling me over to the portrait. I pulled her back.

"Actually I wanted to talk to you for a second…privately." I added noticing all our friends staring at us. James huffed and grabbed Lily's hand.

"Come on sweetheart let's leave them to it." Lily blushed and nodded.

"We'll save you a seat." She called back just as they went through the portrait. Ella smiled and shook her head.

"I will never understand those two." She turned back to me. "What did you want to talk about?" She tilted her head to the side. Suddenly I was really nervous. I can honestly say I have never been more nervous in my life. I cleared my throat and took a deep breath.

"I know we have only been going out for a day pretty much but I brought this a while ago and was waiting for the perfect moment to give it to you but since we are hardly alone and all that I thought I would give it to you now." I said in one big breath. Ella giggled at me and stroked my face.

"I barely got a word of that Sirius. Just relax and try again. You know you don't have to be nervous around me." She said softly. Oh if only she knew the truth. I took a deep breath and tried again.

"I know we haven't been together for long but I thought you might like this." I pulled out a small blue velvet box. Ella tilted her head at it and took it from me.

"What it is?" She asked. I chuckled.

"Open it and find out." I replied. She opened the box and revealed the small silver bracelet. Ella gasped and looked up at me.

"Oh Sirius! It is beautiful!" she said. I took it out of the box and put it around her left wrist.

"Not nearly as beautiful as you." I said before kissing her. We pulled away after a little bit and she examined the bracelet.

"I've never had anything so special before." She mumbled. I smiled and stroked her hair.

"I saw it in a shop a while ago and couldn't just leave it sitting there. And when you said yes to date me I got it engraved." She frowned closely at it then smiled widely. Written on one side was 'S&E forever' and on the other side was '13th December – eternity'. She gazed up at me and laid a hand on my cheek.

"I love you Sirius Black." She whispered.

"As I love you Esmeralda, always and forever." And we kissed.

"_**Okay so again we are going to fast forward through the day until we were getting ready to leave with Remus." I said. Remus nodded.**_

"_**If it's alright with you Sirius I would like to tell this bit." Remus asked turning to me. I nodded and leant back in the chair.**_

"_**You know more about this bit than I do so knock yourself out mate. But kiddies after this you are all going to bed without a drama got it?" They all nodded and agreed. Remus turned to me and I nodded again. **_

"_**Carry on Moony my old friend." **_

"I still don't get why you can't just tell us." Lily said. We were all in the Common Room waiting til curfew so we could sneak out to the Shrieking Shack…and when I say we I meant us guys, the girls thought we were sneaking into Hogmeade for a drink or two. James hugged her closer and kissed her forehead.

"Because my love it is a guy's night and if we get caught and the teachers decide to talk to you, you won't get into trouble because you will know nothing." He said. That was James, always a sweet talker.

"But still, I would like to know just in case something might happen." Lily pouted. I felt a twinge of guilt. Here they were, my best friends, lying to their girlfriends to save my arse. I wish we could tell them. They weren't my girlfriends and I couldn't stand lying to them. But it was safer for them not to know.

"Leave it alone Lil. Let them have their guy's night. It saves us from having to put up with them." Ella added in. She was curled up on Sirius's chest staring at the fire. I had to smile. Ella was by the far the most understanding and laid back female I had ever met. Lily huffed.

"Fine. But if you boys get caught I will not bail you out." She said. She kissed James before waving at everyone. "I'm off to bed. Goodnight and be careful." She kissed James again and headed up to the girls dormitory.

"Well she took that better than I thought she would." James shook his head. I chuckled from the floor where I was reading a book.

"That was just a cover." Ella yawned. We all turned to her.

"What do you mean darling?" Sirius asked. Ella yawned again.

"She'll hammer me upstairs about what it is you boys do and why we can't come and then I will tell her to leave it alone and then she'll go to bed thinking of everything possible that you could be doing before she falls asleep and then tomorrow she will act like everything is totally fine before sneakingly trying to get it out of you." we were stunned. We had no idea what really happened.

"Seriously?" I asked. Ella nodded.

"Don't worry about it. You know Lily. She just likes knowing everything." She stood up and stretched. I noticed the scars on her stomach glowing in the fire light.

"Anyway I am off to bed." She kissed Sirius goodnight. "Be careful and have fun." She blew us a kiss before heading up stairs as well.

"How can two girls be so much alike and yet at the same time so different?" James shook his head.

"Just the luck of the draw Prongs my friend." Sirius stretched. "Anyone seen Pete?" I shrugged and continued to read. I was nervous about tonight. Normally it didn't bother me but I just had a feeling something was going to happened.

"Haven't seen him since dinner." Just as the words left my mouth Peter came through the portrait.

"Hey guys!" He puffed. "Sorry I'm late I was getting food from the kitchens. Did I miss anything?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Apart from Ella telling us the truth about how a female mind works, you didn't miss anything." I answered closing my book and stretching. I looked over at Sirius and saw he was frowning at the fire.

"What's wrong Padfoot?" James asked, interrupting Peter who was rattling off something about food. Sirius shook his head and sighed.

"Nothing. Just thinking." He mumbled.

"Always a dangerous past time." I chuckled. He flipped me off and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I was just thinking about Ella actually. She seems to be getting sick again." I frowned.

"What do you mean? She seemed alright lately."

"Na, she hasn't been. She has been going to bed early and getting up late, looking pale and worn out and has lost a bit of weight. Her heart beat isn't right either." I looked at James who stared back at me. It wasn't like Sirius to get so worked up and notice so many minor details unless he was really worried.

"What do you mean 'wasn't right?" I asked sitting up to see everyone properly.

"I mean when she was laying on me I could feel her heart beat and it was beating really slowly. Not to mention the fact that every time I ask her what is wrong or if she is okay she puts on that fake smile and lies through her teeth." He shook his head. "I just wish she would be honest with me. I'm starting to really worry. What if it is something really serious?" he turned to us all. We all sighed as one. I didn't like the sound of Ella being so sick or the thought of her having something serious. She was one of us now and to lose her to some disease would hurt us all deeply.

"I'm sure she'll be alright." I said breaking the silence. "She would tell you if it was something serious." James and Peter nodded. Sirius sighed.

"Ah well I'll think it over another time. Right now we have to get organised."

"_**Sorry guys I don't remember the exact details of how we got out and all that that. But a few hours after I changed I attacked Sirius and injured him pretty badly." A collective gasp went around the room. I leant over and patted his shoulder.**_

"_**It wasn't that bad. A mere scratch." He looked at me and half smiled.**_

"_**Yeah right. You complained about it for years later." We chuckled.**_

"_**How did you manage to survive it though without the teachers knowing?" Harry asked. Remus turned and smiled at them. **_

"_**That is where it gets interesting."**_

I ran through the forest trying to find my way out of it to get help. I had just taken a massive chunk out of one of my best friends and had managed to lose the other two. I knew something would happen tonight! I just knew it! Damn me and damn this curse! Sometimes I wish I had never been bitten in the first place and then my life would be so much easier and I wouldn't have to put my friend's lives in trouble. Just then I noticed a hooded creature bent over some creature. Maybe they could help. I stumbled forward and the thing froze. It quickly stood up and began to leave.

"No wait please!" I called. It stopped but remained with its back to me.

"Excuse me, sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you could help me get back to the castle?" I asked, scared but having no other option. I didn't really have any other option seeing I was totally lost. The figure stretched its arm out to the right and pointed, its hand completely covered by its cloak sleeve.

"That doesn't help me." I said softly. It bowed its head and went to walk away.

"Wait, who are you?" I called finding more courage than I thought I had. The figure stopped again.

"No one you know." It said in a soft shimmery voice that sent chills down my spine. Yet at the same time it seemed familiar.

"Please, I need to find my way out of the forest. Please help me." I found myself begging. The figure tilted its head to the side.

"Do you always ask strangers for help?" It asked. I swallowed loudly. "Especially when you do not know if the stranger who could kill you in an instant?"

"No, not normally but I really need help. My friend Sirius is wounded because of me and I need to find him as quickly as possible." I frowned slightly. The figure seemed to freeze when I mentioned Sirius's name.

"How badly is he hurt?" it asked, its voice now filled with concern. I frowned deeper. Why would a stranger be concern of someone they had never met?

"I'm not sure exactly. I…I took a swipe at him, it may not sound like much coming from me…."

"Werewolf wounds are the hardest to heal." It interrupted me softly. I gasped.

"H…how do you know?"

"It is most easy for my kind to find your kind, Remus Lupin." I felt a cold tingle rush over my body.

"How do you know my name?"

"I know many things about you and your friends." It chuckled deeply. "I have seen you wandering these forests a few times."

"But…no one sees us" I was slightly disturbed by now.

"I am different from you humans. I can see all." I frowned. This was getting stranger by the minute. As much as I wanted to ask more questions, I had to find Sirius and maybe if I could this…creature to help I could get him help faster.

"I will take you to your friend and I will help him as much as I can, but you must never tell anyone what you've seen…agreed?" how did it know what I was thinking? I was more than a little scared now.

"Do not fear me Remus. I won't harm you nor will I harm your friends. Come, Sirius is this way." It turned and began walking to its right, deeper into the forest. I shook my head slightly.

"I must be crazy to follow it." I whispered before running to catch up. It didn't walk or run like a normal human, it seemed to glide and move with grace and power. It was like nothing I have ever seen.

"Do you live here?" I asked moments later. It chuckled.

"Sometimes yes. But I also live among you."

"In the castle?" I was shocked. This creepy creature was a student?

"Perhaps." It didn't seem to like to give straight answers.

"I give straight answers when a straight question is asked." It said. I stopped.

"H...how?"

"I can see deep into your mind Remus. Right now you are wondering why you even bothered to ask my help instead of running like you wanted to."

"How can you do that?"

"It is a gift and a curse."

"What are you?" I asked, curious and scared at the same time. We turned sharply left when the figure stopped. I flung out its arm to stop me. It felt like a tree branch had hit me in the stomach. How could something so little pack such a large hit? I heard a large rustling noise. I gulped and looked around. Standing ten feet in front of me was the largest spider I had ever seen. It was around twenty feet tall with many large blinking eyes and massive pincers that looked like it could cut me into two with one snap. I was defiantly afraid now.

"_**Sounds like one of Aragog's family members." Harry said with a look of distaste on his face. Lupin chuckled.**_

"_**I think so. It was surely big enough." He said.**_

"_**Urg, can't you just skip over the spider part?" Ron asked looking squeamish. "Please?" **_

"_**Sorry Ron but this is a very interesting part. You'll have to put up with it for a few minutes more."**_

"_**Yeah Ron toughen up!" I said with a laugh. He tried to smile but it ended up coming out looking painful. **_


	17. Chapter 16

The figure next to me pushed me around it so I stood behind it. The spider snarled and snapped at us. The figure crouched over and snarled loudly. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. It was the most vicious thing I had ever heard. The spider let loose a long screeching sound that made my head ring. I tried to cover my ears to block it out but it didn't help. The creature snarled again this time louder and longer. It sounded like an animal. The spider backed up slowly. The creature snarled once more before the spider scuttled away. The figure straightened up and turned its head slightly to me.

"Are you quite alright?" It asked softly. I nodded my head, unable to form words. It nodded once and continued walking.

"I'm not moving til you tell me what you are?" I said standing my ground. The figure stopped but kept its back to me.

"What about your friend?" It asked.

"He can wait another minute. I have to know. Please." I asked. It sighed and turned to face me.

"Have you no thoughts?" it asked, tilting its head. I frowned.

"You're strong far stronger than you look not that I can really see you, you snarl like an animal, can read my thoughts and I saw you feeding on that creature back there."

"You're conclusion?"

"V…vampire." I muttered. It chuckled.

"Well done. Most humans either don't guess it or don't live to tell the tale." It turned and started walking.

"You won't hurt me." I said, running to catch up.

"Oh? And what makes you so sure?" it asked, amused.

"Because if you were, you would have already." I said softly.

"Perhaps I am saving you for later." It said. I stopped and gulped.

"Your friend is just down this hill." It slid from view as it went down the hill. I hastened to follow. You met the strangest things in the forest. I could hear Sirius's moans echoing around the clearing. I ran ahead of the creature and slid to a stop beside him. The creature lent down.

"Step back." It said. I frowned.

"No! You can't eat him! He is my friend!" it chuckled a low deep evil sounding laugh.

"I'm not going to eat him Remus. I am trying to save him." I felt like a right idiot.

"I'm…"

"Sorry, I know." The creature raised its hand and ran it over the wound.

"He has received a large amount of damage. There is only one thing I can think that will help him." It raised one hand and I saw large black claws. I shrunk back slightly.

"What are you doing?" I asked, worried for his safety.

"I am going to give it my blood, once the body absorbs it he will heal himself."

"No! You can't turn him!" I yelled grabbed its wrist. It hissed and I stumbled back.

"I have never turned a human nor will I ever. My blood will help him heal that is it. When it has done its job it will pass through his system." It reached up and shook back its cloak sleeve. I gasped slightly. It was wearing a silver bracelet I knew only too well. I frowned. How can that be right? The creature sliced its wrists with its claws and held it over Sirius's mouth. I choked back my lunch as I watched a few drops fall into his mouth. It laid his head back down. Sirius was still for a moment until the wound started to knit over itself until it was completely gone. Sirius groaned and turned his head to the side. The creature stood up.

"The exit out of the forest is eight hundred meters forward."

"Thank you." It bowed its head and glided away. I couldn't believe what I had learnt tonight! I bent down to Sirius to see he was coming around.

"Mooney?" he mumbled holding his head. "What happened?" I looked after the creature.

"So many things. Come on you big lug, let's get out of this creepy place." I threw his arm over my shoulder and lifted him up. He stumbled and I grabbed him tightly. With one last look towards the creature that had stopped at the top of the hill, I turned and began to find my way out of the forest, so many thoughts running through my head. How can this be? It wasn't right! Did anyone else know about it? It explained so much though. We arrived at the edge of the forest and I dropped Sirius to the ground.

"Now will you explain what happened?" he asked softly. I shook my head, my thought were a mess.

"Not right now. We need to get back to the castle."

"Where are Peter and James?" he asked. he sounded almost as weak and tired as I felt. I hurled him up and we dragged ourselves forward a little bit only to run into something hard.

"What the hell?" Sirius exclaimed. I shook my head. Nothing was in front of us until suddenly James and Peter appeared.

"Where have you been? We couldn't find you anywhere!" James hissed loudly. I shook my head.

"I'll explain everything in the Common Room right now we have to get back before the girls wake up." James threw the cloak over us and we began to run back towards the castle. My mind was reeling. How the hell could this happen? How did we not know? What would happen now?

"_**A vampire? There was a vampire in the forest?" Harry exclaimed. We nodded. Hermione opened her mouth. Her eyes were wide and she looked ready to burst. I put a finger to my lips and she pretty much whined at me with her eyes. I shook my head and she fell silent with a huff.**_

"_**That would have been so cool." Ron said shaking his ad.**_

"_**And scary. Were you scared Remus?" Ginny asked Remus chuckled and nodded.**_

"_**I don't think I have ever been so scared." **_

"_**Can we have a little bit more?" Fred asked. They turned to Molly and Arthur who sighed.**_

"_**I thought we agreed that after that you would go to bed no questions asked?" I said smiling. **_

"_**But we want to know who the vampire is and everything." George whined. I chuckled and shook my head.**_

"_**It's up to your mother." They rushed over and pretty much threw themselves at her feet.**_

"_**Please mum."**_

"_**Please Mrs Weasley. Just a little bit more.**_

"_**Please, please, please?" Molly laughed and shook her hands for silence.**_

"_**You have twenty minutes and then bed." They all cheered and rushed over to Remus and I.**_

"_**I guess that's our cue to continue then huh?" I turned to Remus who smiled.**_

"_**I guess so. Right where was i?" **_

_**We managed to sneak back into the castle. Peter and James were pretty much holding Sirius and I up by now. We reached the portrait and coped an earful from the Fat Lady.**_

"_**What do you boys think you are doing out so late? The sun is almost up! Have you been out all night? Does the headmaster know? I should tell him at once!" she shouted. **_

"_**Hogswollap." James said rather rudely. She gasped and then glared at us. **_

"_**How rude." She snapped before swinging open. We tumbled in and collapsed on the couches. **_

"_**What a night?" James said sighing. "You alright Remus?"**_

"_**I will be. Sirius I am so sorry! I didn't mean to!" Sirius held up a hand to shut me up.**_

"_**Don't sweat Mooney." He grinned at me. "That's what you get for running with a werewolf. Besides I'm almost as good as new."**_

"_**Yeah that's what I'm curious about. What the hell happened?" James turned to me. I sighed. What do I tell them? The truth? Do I tell them what I learnt or just leave it? I looked at Sirius who had his eyes closed and a hand over his chest then at James who was leaning in expectantly and then at Peter who was passed out.**_

"_**Oh I can't wait to get a cuddle of Ella. Maybe I can con her into a massage." Sirius piped up.**_

"_**Stop being a sap Padfoot. I'm sure she'll look after you and nurse you back to health. She pretty much worships you." James rolled his eyes. **_

"_**yeah but its mutual so it's all good." Sirius smiled. I sighed again as they looked at me.**_

"_**Sorry Moony didn't mean to interrupt. Let's hear it. What the hell happened out there?"**_

"_**I lost control and started to leave the shack and Sirius tried to stop me and I attacked him so bad that I thought he was dead. I couldn't find you or Peter so I went looking for someone or anything to help and ran into one of the centaurs and after telling him everything and have him almost kill me with his bow and arrows he led me to you, helped you with some potion or something and then left after telling me the way out and that's when Sirius woke up and we found you." I said in one big breath. Yeah it was a lie but I couldn't tell them the truth not before talking to a certain someone first. It wouldn't be fair and besides I'm pretty sure James and Sirius would go crazy over it. James and Sirius shook their heads.**_

"_**Jesus, you have all fun Moony!" James said. I chuckled sarcastically.**_

"_**yeah because that was fun and everything." I shook my head and stood up.**_

"_**I'm going to bed before anymore 'fun' happens. Good night and thanks again." They waved my thanks off and said goodnight. I trudged up the stairs with my mind in a spin. What was I going to do now?**_

"_**And that is twenty minutes children." Molly said standing up. There was a few quiet groans and a few sighs but apart from that they all got up and went to bed after hugs and kisses and good nights. Only Harry stayed.**_

"_**It was Ella wasn't it?" He asked. I frowned.**_

"_**Was what son?" I asked. **_

"_**The vampire. The one who saved you it was Ella right?" He asked again. Remus and I looked at each other and shrugged in perfect sync.**_

"_**You'll have to wait mate. Sorry." I said. Harry rolled his eyes and sighed.**_

"_**Sometimes I wish you would just tell me." He said before saying goodnight and following the rest to bed.**_

"_**Kids these days…think they know everything." I shook my head. Remus laughed.**_

"_**But this time he actually knew it." He replied. I shrugged.**_

"_**Don't care. Still don't like the fact they think they know everything."**_

"_**Ah we were the same Sirius. Only difference is you still think you know everything."**_

"_**Oh low blows Mooney Low blow."**_

"_**Hey someone has to keep you grounded." We looked at each other and laughed. **_

"Ella , can I have a word?" I said as she passed me. Sirius raised an eyebrow at me and I shrugged.

"Just about the Potions assignment." I answered his unasked question. He rolled his eyes and let go of her hand.

"Can't you let it go for one day Moony?" he asked. I shook my head.

"It will only take a second." I said. she smiled and nodded.

"I'll meet you down there." Sirius said kissing her cheek and walking to where the others were waiting.

"What do you need help with Remus?" Ella asked turning to me. "I thought you were finished."

"I am." I replied nervously. "I just needed to talk to you." she frowned. Man was I feeling queasy. Not only did I not want to have this conversation i also wished the whole thing never happened.

"Want to sit down?" She asked pointing to the two free armchairs in front of the fire. I nodded and we walked over there. As we sat down, she lent forward and grabbed my hand.

"Remus what is wrong? You have been acting weird for the last few days. I'm starting to worry about you." I inwardly groaned. Why did she have to make it so damn hard? She was so nice and caring and I considered her one of my best friends and now I was starting to question what I was doing. What happens if it destroys our friendship? Would it effect her and Sirius's relationship? He would never forgive me if it did. She was the first girl he had ever loved and he made sure he reminded us everyday. I sighed again. Ella squeezed my hand.

"Come on Remus it can't be that bad." She smiled. I swallowed the lump in my throat and sighed again.

"I know what you are." I mumbled. I couldn't look her in the eyes so I didn't see her reaction but from the way her hand twitched I knew I was right.

"Sorry?" she asked. I knew damn well she heard me.

"I know what you are." I said slowly as I looked up at her. she tilted her head at me.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Oh come on Ella!" I said loudly annoyed she was making this so hard for me.

"You know damn well what I am talking about. You were there that night in the forest! You helped Sirius! You helped me and you saved my life from that spider!" I hissed. She removed her hand from mine and lent back, a cold look crossing her face.

"Remus I have no idea what you are on about. I haven't stepped foot in that forest and what spider? What happened to Sirius?" She said looking worried now. I rubbed my eyes and took a deep breathe. It normally takes a lot to make me angry but right now she was pushing all my buttons the wrong way.

"Don't play dumb Esmerelda! You know exactly what I am talking about! Why bother denying it?" I said leaning forward.

"I'm not playing dumb I don't know what you are talking about and I don't appreciate the tone." She stood up but I pulled her back down by the arm.

"All I want to know is the truth Ella. I just want to know if it was you out there." I said trying to keep calm.

"I am telling you the truth." She tried to remove her arm from my hand but I held on tightly. "I don't know what you are talking about." I squeezed her arm.

"Remus you're hurting me." she said but I ignored her. I was getting the truth one way or another.

"Just tell me. I won't tell anyone. I have to know. I have to know if I was seeing things or if it was really you." I whispered. She tried to pull away again.

"Remus please I am telling you the truth. Please let go you are hurting me!" I gripped tighter and glared at her.

"I know you are a vampire and I want to know why the hell you've been lying to us!" I snapped. She ripped her arm from my grasp and looked at me with a scared look on her face.

"I have never lied to you Remus Lupin nor will I ever! And as for being a vampire..." She shook her head. "How could I be one of them? They are blood sucking leeches that are evil and cruel and take the lives of innocents."

"Tell me, does Sirius even know how you spend your nights? I'm sure he would love to know that the perfect girl he is dating is actually a lying blood sucking murdering leech who lives off the lives of innocent people just to satisfy her own sadistic taste!" I stood up and said. She gasped and I clenched my eyes shut. I hadn't meant to say that. She sighed and looked at the floor.

"And here I was thinking you are my friend Remus." She looked up and my heart froze. She had tears in her eyes. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe my imagination had gone wild or my eyes played tricks on me or something. Maybe she wasn't lying. Oh god what had I done?

"Ella…I'm sorry. I didn't…" She put up her hand to stop me. I gasped as I saw the bruise forming on her wrist where I had grabbed her.

"I don't want to hear it. You believe what you want to believe. But you dear Remus Lupin are nothing better than Malfoy." And with that she walked away. I collapsed back on the couch. That was it then. I was wrong. No way could she have acted that. I hit my forehead with the palm of my hand. Way to go Remus. Now you've really screwed things up.


	18. Chapter 17

"_**Yeah yes I know I was a little bit horrible to her but I didn't mean to go so far. I just had this thought in my mind that it was her and had to get the truth." Remus said before anyone could say anything. I sighed and shook my head.**_

"_**No comments wanted or needed so let's continue shall we?" I wasn't in the mood to hear everyone's opinions. We had already been through it all and it was already forgiven so what was the point of having everyone else two cents worth? And surprisingly we didn't get any arguments. For once they were silent. I sighed and took over the story telling. **_

"_**Weeks past and they didn't speak at all. Everytime Remus would enter the same room as Ella, other than lessons, she would stand up and leave. There were a few times when he tried to talk to her and she just ignored him and pushed past her. We had no idea what had happened between them and Everytime we tried to ask either of them about it they would shrug it off and pretend it was nothing. I asked El about the bruise around her arm and she told me the some student had grabbed her mistaking her for someone else and he had a strong grip. I didn't exactly believe her but what could I do? I was completely in love and didn't want anything to screw it up. Not to mention the fact that Ella was starting to look incredibly sick again. She was in Dumbledore's office every other day and would sleep for hours or sometimes days. She still wouldn't say anything about and we decided to leave it alone but we knew something was wrong and we were determined to get to the bottom of it."**_

"Ok this is getting ridiculous!" Lily piped up suddenly. We were sitting in the common room. Remus was sitting in an armchair reading, while Ella was upstairs resting. I was getting worried about her. She was so tired lately. Judging by the cringe from Remus he knew exactly what Lily was talking about.

"What are you on about Lily?" James piped up not looking up from the Transfiguration paper he had been attempting to write for the last hour or so.

"Remus and Ella not talking! It's driving me crazy! We guys haven't said a word to each other in weeks. I am tired of not having everyone together when we eat or the funny conversations or anything! All there is, is awkward silence and not to mention the fact that I think Ella getting worse with whatever the hell is going on and she needs her friends…all her friends around her for love, support and to help her out. So Remus Lupin if you don't find away to make things right I will hex you daily until we graduate and believe me it won't be very fun. " We all sat them stumped. Sure we had heard Lily gone off and had a tantrum before but never like this. She actually made sense this time. She raised an eyebrow at us.

"What?" She barked. James hugged her and kissed her cheek.

"You are exactly right my dear. We have to sort this mess out before it gets worse and all be there for her." he said. I nodded.

"It would be nice to be able to hug my girlfriend more. No Remus that wasn't a dig so relax." I said as Remus opened his mouth. He closed it and nodded.

"I would like it to all be over. I do miss having everyone around." He muttered.

"Well here is your chance." James nodded to the stairs where Ella was slowly coming down. "Just walk up to her and say sorry. I'm sure she will forgive you." Remus nodded and stood up, reaching Ella just as she steppe doff the stairs. She tried to push past him but he held firm.

"Man, she looks terrible." James mumbled. I nodded. Ella's skin was so pale it looked almost see through, her eyes were slightly bloodshot and the dark circles under her eyes were darker than ever before giving her a crazy haunted look, her cheeks were sunken in and she looked underfed and frail. Overall, she looked like she was dying.

"I wish there was something I could do to help her." I whispered. A small hand gripped my shoulder. Lily smiled softly at me.

"For now, until we know what is wrong the only thing we can do is let her know that we are here for her and that we love her." she said. I reached up and squeezed her hand.

"Thanks Lil."

"Well looks like it is going well. They haven't killed each other yet." James interrupted. We turned and saw Ella throw her arms around Remus. I smiled. Thank god! Now Ella could be around without it being weird. Remus let go and smiled. Ella waved before walking out. I went to yell out but stopped myself. She was probably on her way to Dumbledore.

"She will be back; she is just out of the potion from Dumbledore." Remus said sitting back in his chair. I smiled, happy I knew her so well.

"So everything is ok?" I asked. Remus smiled and nodded. I was happy to see there was a small glint in his eyes again. It had been missing since Ella wasn't talking to him.

"We both said sorry and that was it. Everything will go back to normal." I stood up and stretched.

"I'll be back. I'm going to go and steal a snog before she sees Dumbledore." I winked and all but raced out of the common room. In my hurry I almost tripped over something a few feet away from the portrait.

"I didn't know what to do." The Fat Lady was saying almost hysterically. I frowned. "She just collapsed and she wasn't moving and…and…I panicked!" my stomach sank. I rushed over and turned the fallen figure on its back. It was Ella…and she wasn't breathing.

"ELLA!" I yelled shaking her shoulders. Her head just rolled around her neck lifeless. I laid my ear on her heart and heard a very faint very weak flutter of a beat. The portrait behind me swung open and I heard a collective gasp.

"Sirius what happened?" Lily said rushing over, followed closely by James and Remus.

"I don't know! I just found her like this." I said sounding hysteric.

"Quick let's take her to the Hospital Wing." James said. I tucked my arms under her neck and knees and lifted her up.

"Merlin's pants! She's almost weightless." I said.

"Wait!" Lily exclaimed. I turned and frowned at her. "Take her to Dumbledore. He has been making her better all the other times she has been sick like this."

"Good thinking Lily." I turned around again and ran towards Dumbledore's office. I skidded to a halt in front of the gargoyles.

"Ah what have you got there sonny?" one asked.

"And why the hell have you brought it here." The other asked.

"Please my girlfriend is dying and she needs Dumbledore." I said wishing they would shut the help up and move.

"Than take her to the Nursy lady. The Headmaster has to time for overdosing teenagers." I almost snapped its stone head.

"Get out of the way and let me see Dumbledore." I said through my teeth. It took all of my very minimum self control to stop myself going crazy at them.

"You got the password?" it smiled at me. I opened my mouth to give it a massive mouthful.

"Celtics rule." Lily said as the others caught up. I raised an eyebrow at her and she shrugged.

"Head girl, you get to know theses things. Now go and get her better." I nodded and turned around as the gargoyles started to move.

"Lucky break." The one to my left hissed.

"Keep going ugly and I'll give you a break…right between the eyes." I snapped. I swallowed loudly and stepped out of the lift and to the door. I sighed and mentally prayed to anyone who was listening that she would be okay. I balanced her legs on one leg and reached p to knock but the door flew open before I could.

"Mr Black, what a…" Dumbledore stopped dead as he saw Ella in my arms.

"Please Sir; she normally comes to you for help is there anything you can do? I think she is dying." I'm not ashamed to admit that I may have been crying by this point. Dumbledore nodded and stepped aside to let me in. I walked in and turned back to him as he shut the door. It's hard to describe the look on his face. It was almost as if he was scared, angry, annoyed and worried all at once.

"Please help her." I said. He nodded once and went to take her out of my arms but I stepped back. I didn't want to give her up. What happens if this was her last few minutes? What happens if this was the last time I ever hold her?

"Mr Black I understand you are worried but if you do not hand her over how am I meant to help her?" Dumbledore said softly reaching forward again. "I promise you I will do everything in my power to make sure this isn't the last time you hold her." I sighed and nodded before handing her over. She looked dead already. She just hung there lifelessly in Dumbledore's arms, looking so small and fragile and…

"_**I'm sorry. I have to stop." I said standing up and clearing my throat. **_

"_**Are you okay?" Remus asked. I shook my head.**_

"_**Just give me a minute. I'll…I'll be fine. I just need to wet my face." I rushed out of the room before anyone else could ask questions. I ran up the stairs and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. I lent over the basin and sighed. I knew this was coming. I knew this part of the story would be painful. I should have never have fucking started it! I looked at my reflection and saw an old, lonely empty man with tears running down his cheeks and disappearing into his beard. **_

"_**Ella, oh my beautiful Ella! Why? Why did you leave me? I need you, my love. I'll always need you!" I slid to the floor now hysterical. I sobbed for the loss of my wife and child and the pain I felt, I wept for my two best friends dead so long but still painful, I cried over the poor boy downstairs who was raised with a shit life instead of the best life he could have. I couldn't help it. Telling and reliving the story made it all rise up and hit me all over again! **_

"_**Ella, my Ella, my beautiful angel." I moaned holding my face in my hands. "Why Ella? Why?" I sat there for a very long time just rocking back and forth muttering her name over and over. I know I was acting like an idiot. I know I was just being a baby but I couldn't help it. I just missed her. I stood up and sapped myself.**_

"_**Pull it together man." I told my self before splashing cod water on my face. My eyes were bloodshot and I looked like crap but i had to go down and apologise to everyone. I had to pull it together. I sighed, straightened my jumper and walked out of the bathroom and downstairs. I heard laughing from the living room. I took a deep breathe and walked into the room. Everyone fell silent and stared at me. Remus smiled and waved me over. He was surrounded by Molly and Harry as well as the twins and Arthur behind her. Ginny, Ron and Hermione were at his feet on there knees looking over the book. **_

"_**Come here Sirius and look what we found." He held up an old leather bound book. And with that the ice was broken. I smiled. I could always count on him to make everything okay. **_

"_**What have you got there mate? I asked making my way to the couch where Harry scooted along so I could sit next to Remus. **_

"_**The old photo album." He chuckled. "I have to tell you mate we were ugly back then." I swallowed loudly. There would be photos of Ella in there. Remus seemed to pick up on the feeling.**_

"_**We haven't gotten to school yet. You're just in time. The kids are dying to see what Ella looked like. It might help them paint a better picture by seeing her." What he was really saying was 'it might help you if you saw the good old days before all this shit.' I smiled and nodded.**_

"_**Good idea old chaps! Bring on the past!" Ella, help me. **_

"_**Oh Merlin's beard! Do you remember this Moony?" I laughed as we turned the page and there was a picture of the four of us at a Halloween dance the year before Ella came onto the scene. Remus laughed and slapped his knee. **_

"_**Oh we were idiots." He shook his head.**_

"_**I thought we looked great!" I replied wiping the tears from my eyes.**_

"_**Why aren't you guys in costume?" Harry asked. Remus and I smiled.**_

"_**Ah Harry we are in costume. Look harder." Remus said. Everyone around us lent in and squinted at the photo. Fred in all his glory was the first to spot it. **_

"_**That's you Sirius!" he said pointing to the tall man dressed as James. I laughed.**_

"_**We thought since we were all so awesome that for Halloween we would dress up as each other." Mooney explained. Everyone laughed. **_

"_**Brilliant!" Fred and George said. **_

"_**I went as James, James went as Peter, and Moony went as me and Peter went as Moony. It was quite amusing especially when Lily hit James thinking Peter was hitting on her!" we all laughed. **_

"_**Can we see a picture of Ella now?" Ginny asked. **_

"_**Please?" Hermione added. I sighed and nodded.**_

"_**We're at that page now anyway." I swallowed loudly before Remus turned the page. There were about six photos of her. Three on each side. The first one and second was on her third day of Hogwarts where we found her sitting outside near the great lake under a huge tree staring off into something. She had her arms around her knees which were brought up to her chest and her long hair fell down her back. The sun jumped and glittered off of her hair and the lake making she seem angelic. The second one was caught when she turned around after we took the first picture and smiled when she saw it. It was by far my favourite picture of her other than the ones on our wedding day. The sun was reflecting off of her, she was smiling and happy and above all else it was natural. This was Ella at her most relaxed and real. **_

"_**Wow..." Harry whispered. The others nodded seemingly to shock to form words.**_

"_**Sirius, you explained she was gorgeous but…wow…she's majestic." Hermione piped up. I smiled and caught Moony's eye. He nodded. He knew exactly what I was thinking – if only they knew her in the flesh. **_

"_**That's my wife." I said proudly as I stroked her face. the third picture was of her curled up on the couch reading a book with her hair a mess everywhere and the soft glow of the fireplace lighting her up. The fourth was of her and James and Moony and Peter with a big smile on her face and her arms around them. The fifth and sixth were random pictures of her and Lily both who had their tongues out or were hugging for the camera. I smiled at the memories.**_

"_**I take it this was after she got more out of her shell?" Ron asked pointing to the left hand page of her and Lily. I nodded.**_

"_**Yeah there were a few weeks we didn't take pictures as our camera got confiscated by Filch the maggot and than Dumbledore took it as he had never seen a working modern looking Muggle camera. Than we got it back and a few weeks after that we all chipped in and brought ourselves a proper decent looking high tech wizard camera." Moony explained. **_

"_**Oh can we see more?" Ginny asked excitedly.**_

"_**Oh now they want to see photos? Here I was thinking they would be more interested in the story since it's up to a compelling part." I chuckled. The room went a little uneasy. The tension suddenly rose. I titled my head at Moony.**_

"_**We weren't sure if you wanted to continue. We know how hard it must be." Harry said patting my shoulder. I smiled at how thoughtful they all were. Even though im sure they were bursting to know what happened, they were putting me and my pain first. Oh I loved these kids. **_

"_**How about one more page of photos and than continue with the story?" Moony suggested. The kids nodded enthusiastically. I nodded and flipped the page. There was a large group photo of everyone in autumn kicking the leaves around and than smiling and laughing at the camera with everyone's arms around everybody.**_

"_**That is a really pretty picture! I haven't seen it before." Molly piped up. I sighed and nodded.**_

"_**It is one of my favourites."**_

"_**You all look so happy!" She said laughing. I smiled tightly.**_

"_**We were happy. This was shortly after Ella and I got together and James and Lily were together. See?" I pointed to the next page where there was a large photo of Ella and me hugging and laughing together and below that there was one of James and Lily waving and sharing a kiss while laughing. **_

"_**Wow you guys look really good as a couple." George piped up. I chucked.**_

"_**That's only because we were both so amazingly good looking." I replied. Everyone rolled their eyes.**_

"_**Mum and dad were really happy weren't they?" Harry mumbled quietly. I nodded and side hugged him.**_

"_**They were happy and they were happy long after Hogwarts and when you came along they were the happiest. Well except Ella. I'm pretty sure if she had a chance she would have kidnapped you." We chuckled. I smiled and flipped the book almost til the end. I found the page and opened it for all to see.**_

"_**This is how happy they were. How happy we all were." I explained as I saw Harry's face light up. He didn't have many photos of his family. This page was dedicated to Lily's stomach which was sticking out from her tiny frame.**_

"_**You were almost ready to pop out Harry." Moony said with a smile. Harry didn't reply he was to busy soaking in his parents and his family. There was a photo of just Lily holding her stomach with a big grin and moving from front view to side view so to see just how big she was. There was one of James and Lily was stood there smiling while every now and again James would move and rub his wife's belly. One of Moony and Lily where Moony faked looking scared at the thing, Peter and Lily where Peter was poking it and Lily was laughing. One of Lily and Myself where I was holding her stomach and mouthing 'greatest living Quittach player ever!' with Lily mouthing 'no way in hell!' we all laughed at that.**_

"_**She was glowing." Hermione said. We nodded.**_

"_**She was so big and so happy it was a wonder she managed to carry you around Harry." I ruffled his hair and he smiled. **_

"_**See Harry? Not even born yet and Ella was already in love with you." Moony pointed to the last two photos. Ella was crouched down and laying her ear against Lily's tummy. Lily was laughing and shaking her head. Ella kept looking p and smiling. The second was Ella imitating Lily by puffing out her cheeks and holding her shirt out way in front of her. Lily was laughing and slapping Ella's arm causing Ella burst out laughing.**_

"_**They were really close." Hermione shook her head in amazement. **_

"_**Oh you have no idea. James and I often wondered how long it would be until they would come out of the… never mind! Story time?" I was answered by cheers and nods and pleading. I laughed.**_

_**It's like a zoo at feeding time!" I exclaimed to Molly who smiled.**_

"_**Try raising them all." Arthur muttered. I shook my head.**_

"_**Okay so we were at Dumbledore's office and Ella was looking…dead." I gulped at the word. This wasn't going to be easy.**_


	19. Chapter 18

I paced around the bottom of Dumbledore's office. He had kicked me out and told me to wait. Something about a secret that shouldn't be revealed until Ella felt right about it. Boy did I spit the dummy over that! She was my girlfriend and I loved her and I had a right to know. I really shouldn't argue with Dumbledore. The glare he gives you when you have over stepped the line is just heart stopping. Literally makes your butt cheeks pucker.

"She's been in there for over an hour!" Lily exclaimed. "Are you sure Dumbledore didn't show or tell you anything?" I turned and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Do you really think if he did that I would be down here? Or I would have at least told you the last…hundred million times you asked?" I snapped. I couldn't help it. I was getting edgy. Lily stepped back and bit her lip.

"I'm sorry Lil." I mumbled waking over and sitting against the wall near James and Remus. She nodded and sat back down in between James legs.

"This is the worst!" James sighed wrapping his arms around Lily's shoulders. I nodded running my hands through my hair. Remus was sitting there reading a large old looking book.

"Moony! How the hell can you be thinking about homework at a time like this?" I asked. He lowered his book and smiled softly.

"It isn't homework." I rolled my eyes.

"Still Moony, how can you read at a time like this?" James added.

"It's about Ella." He said simply. We all stopped and turned to him.

"What?" Lily asked.

"It's about the grandest and oldest families of the wizarding world and she is in it." He put the page down on his lap and we all leant forward to read it.

"There's a very large few hundred pages of her family but this is her." sitting amongst seven other people was Ella, looking younger and torn. She was elegant and proper and not at all like the girl I had fallen for. I frowned.

"She doesn't look…" I trailed off unable to explain it.

"Real?" James offered. I nodded. At least I wasn't the only one who saw it.

"Oh my! The Marat family and the Lavata family?" Lily exclaimed.

"Care to save us the pain of reading this whole thing and explain?" James asked. Lily gaped for a few beats before clearing her throat.

"They are as good as royalty especially in Romania and Serbia, Russia Ect. They controlled everything there and were a family of rulers and knights and everything. Merlin's baggy jocks! Why didn't I remember this?" Lily explained jumping up. James and I looked in shock at each other.

"I should have remembered as soon I heard her name! The last known alive Marat member was murdered about two hundred years ago by King Lesion who didn't like the power the Marat's had or the popularity as the people loved them all as they were giving and caring and kind and…I'm getting off track, anyway!" Lily took a deep breathe and continued.

"Help them what?" I asked. Lily shoosh-ed me with a wave of her hand and continued.

"This treaty was just a front for after a hundred years of it in place, the Davion family began slowly and carefully killing off members of the family one by one."

"Why were they all killed in the first place?" James asked.

"And how the hell was there so many of them?" I asked.

"Because apparently men in the family were v…" Remus was cut short by the movement of the gargoyles. I jumped up as did everyone else and crossed my fingers. Dumbledore stepped out with no sign of Ella. My heart sunk. Dumbledore bowed his head and walked over to us.

"I'm sorry to say…" I felt my knees give out and landed on the cold hard floor shaking my head. Lily was whimpering behind me, judging by how muffled it sounded James had her buried in his chest. No! No no no don't you dare! I thought.

"I'm sorry to say that I could only partly heal her. I've sent her to Mungo's for better care." I sighed in relief and grabbed my chest breathing heavily.

She was alive. She wasn't dead and she was in a better place where they could help her better. She wasn't dead. I stood up shakily.

"Headmaster, may I ask permission to stay…?" I stated to ask but before I could finish Dumbledore held up his hand to stop me. I swear to god if he denied me I would quit this school and leave for good.

"I have already told the nurses to expect five students within a matter of minutes. But alas, there are only four of you. Where is young Peter?'

"He wasn't with us when we found her. I doubt he knows what happened." I explained not really caring about Peter at the moment. All I wanted to do was to get to my girlfriend and not eave her side. Dumbledore nodded and swept his arm towards the staircase which was still opened.

"Come dear children. You can travel through my fireplace." We filed up the staircase and into his office. It was a beautiful office, so warm and interesting that I normally enjoyed looking at but at the present time I was distracted by other things.

"Sirius, in trouble again are we?" I looked up and saw my great grandfather staring down at me.

"Professor Black." Dumbledore shot a warning to the portrait who smirked.

"Don't tell me he is the one who fell in love with that… "Dumbledore cleared his throat rather loudly and Grandad fell silent with a nasty smirk.

"There might be hope for you yet Sirius." He said.

"That is enough!" Dumbledore's command rang loud and clear and all the portraits fell still. I frowned and turned to Dumbledore.

"What did he mean?" I asked. Dumbledore shook his head and smiled.

"Slytherins are always cryptic when they believe they have information that they think is relevant." He answered. I frowned slightly. The smile didn't quite reach his eyes and the answer didn't make much sense. "But come now to Mungo's." He took a pinch of power from the top of the fire place and threw it in.

"After you Master Black. Just ask the nurse for Miss Marat's room." I smiled and yelled,

"Mungo's hospital!" I stepped in and was whirled away to where my girlfriend was laying.

"_**Moony, did you want to add anything? I asked. Moony frowned than nodded.**_

"_**I had almost forgotten. Must be the old age." I chuckled.**_

"_**Don't say that, if you're old than I have to admit I am and I don't want to think about it." Ginny cleared her throat and looked expectedly at us. **_

"_**If you guys could hurry it along? Only we do need sleep rather soonish." She said sweetly. I looked at the clock and gasped. It was almost one in the morning. No wonder Molly had serves up sandwiches and biscuits three times. We had been here for ages! I turned to Molly.**_

"_**I am so sorry Molly! I had no idea we had been taking for so long. Did you want us to finish this bit or send the kiddies to bed?" I asked, deciding to continue to keep things friendly between Molly and me. It was nicer than being yelled at. She smiled and looked at the kids who were all begging her silently. **_

"_**Just finish this bit than tomorrow I want everyone to clean an entire room before more story got it?" they all nodded and faced Moony and I again.**_

"_**You have the floor Moony." He bowed his head and smiled.**_

"Master Potter, you next if you please?" Dumbledore said throwing more powder into the fire. James saluted and yelled, "MUNGO"S HOSPITAL!" before stepping in and disappearing. I went to step up next but Dumbledore placed a soft hand on my chest. He looked seriously at Lily and me as I stepped back.

"I wish to have a quick word if I may?" He asked polite as ever. Lily and I both nodded.

"I know you both have discovered the history of Miss Marat's family and I ask you not to tell anyone! The reason we gave her the false name 'Hart' is for her own safety. We do not want this getting out into the wrong people's ear or hands so please keep it to yourselves. Yes Miss Evans, even from Master Black and Master Potter. Let Miss Marat tell them in her own time." We both nodded although very confused as to why Ella's safety was in danger. What could possibly be out there to hurt her? Oh duh Remus! I mental hit myself. There's a raging psycho killer on the loose who would love to get a Marat on his side I'm sure. I shook my head and stepped forward realising Lily had just gone through.

"Remus." Dumbledore reached out and touched my shoulder. I was startled he called me by my first name. "I understand you and Miss Marat have had some issues recently. Please don't let what you have found out effect your friendship. Friendship at this age and time should be treasured. Do not give up on it so easily." I smiled and nodded.

"I have already made the mistake once of pushing to far Headmaster but I can promise you that I have learnt my lesson. Ella is too much like a sister to me to lose again. Even though she did lie to me." Dumbledore beamed and threw more powder in the fire.

"How very noble of you Master Lupin." He winked as I stepped in and yelled,"MUNGO'S HOSPITAL.' I closed my eyes against the violent swaying and spinning. I hated floo travelling. I would have much rather been dragged by my hair by a troll. I rolled out of the fireplace coughing and splattering. Two pairs of strong hands helped me up and dusted me off.

"You right mate?" I heard someone ask. I opened my eyes and saw James and Sirius on either side of me. I coughed and nodded.

"I hate floo!" I spluttered. They laughed and thumped me on the back.

"At least we're in." Sirius said. I looked around and saw we had rolled out of the fireplace in the waiting room of the hospital. I sighed. There was a long line to the welcome witch, even though she looked anything but welcoming. She had a sour look on her face and was making a rather rude gesture at a man who looked perfectly healthy. He turned around, red from anger at the witch and I quickly held down a laugh. Poor bugger had a teapot stuck to his forehead as well as the tea cup on one cheek, the saucer on another and the sugar bow hanging off his chin.

"Must have it black." James muttered in my ear as the man walked past. I raised an eyebrow at him in confusion.

"There was no milk jug." Sirius added. We burst out laughing. A nurse strolled over and told us to keep it down as it was a hospital not a zoo. Before she walked away I grabbed her arm.

"Sorry madam we are looking for Miss Ella Ma…Hart. Professor Dumbledore sent us?" I asked politely. The frown slide right off the nurse's face and she smiled.

"Right this way. I'm about to head up to her myself. My name is Rita and I'm her night nurse." We all introduced ourselves and followed the nurse to an elevator. We all crammed in and as the doors closed the nurses smiled and said "level 6." The elevator flew back and up with a jerk that made me fall back into Sirius.

"You right mate?" He asked quietly. The elevator stopped suddenly and we were all thrown forward except for the nurse who obviously was use to it. She stepped over us and stepped out.

"Come along children." She said before waking straight down the long corridor.

"I hate elevators. I'd rather floo than take one of these again." I muttered shaking my head. Sirius laughed.

"I'll have to agree with you there Moony." Lily gasped.

"This is the long term ward. How long do you think she'll be here?" She asked tearfully. James wrapped an arm around her and hugged her.

She'll be fine love. She's Ella. She is our tough little cookie. It's just a precaution." He mumbled as we followed the nurse who had stopped at a door. We reached her and stopped. I looked at Sirius who was sweating and cracking his fingers. He was so nervous and worried. We all were.

"Now Miss Hart is resting now we have had the doctors look at her as soon as she was here but they will be back shortly for another look. I suggest you leave when they come in." we nodded and the nurse smiled. Pulling out her wand she waved it four times in different directions and we heard the lock click open. I raised an eyebrow. Wow, such security for one person. I wonder why? My friends obviously wore my expression judging by the Nurses chuckle.

"It's a protection spell she is very weak and its picks up signs of anyone with diseases or ill intentions trying to enter." She explained.

We followed her in. the room was stark white and very empty. There were five beds to one wall and a sixth was surrounded by machines and tubes. I frowned.

"Why is she attached to Muggle medicine?" I asked. The nurse smiled like I was a puppy who had just learnt a new trick.

"My, you are clever aren't you? We have found in cases like Miss Hart that these Muggle machines help. One is pumping blood through, one is oxygen and the other two are watching her heart and brain. They are magical in a sense that they beep and send a message to us when they are done or having a problem. It may look scary but I assure you it is all helping her." She leant forward fluffed up Ella pillows and checked all the tubing and smiled again.

"Well theses beds are for you, someone will bring you something to eat and make sure you are very quiet." We nodded. Sirius had almost thrown himself over Ella's tiny body. I felt a shudder run through me. She looked so little and so fragile connected with all those tubes and everything. She did on a positive note have some colour back which was a good sign.

"Nurse, you never told us what was wrong with her?" James asked. The nurse turned back and smiled a small sad smile.

"We don't know ourselves, dear." And with that she closed the door.


	20. Chapter 19

"_**Awwww, you are so sweet Sirius!" Hermione and Ginny said together. **_

"_**Yeah so sweet I'm getting a bloody toothache!" Fred said chuckling. **_

"_**Come on mate where all the juicy bits is? The fighting, who the vampire was…" George added before being interrupted by Molly. **_

"_**George and Fred Weasley! If you two don't like the romantic bits than feel free to leave. This is a romance story of course there will be mushy bits but the rest of us rather like hearing about a side of Sirius no one knows about. So either shut up and deal with it or leave and don't come back." she barked. We all sat there stunned.**_

"_**Sorry Sirius. Please continue." Molly smiled at me. I had to chuckle. This woman was the very essence of motherhood. **_

"_**I hounded the Healers night and day and every moment in between to tell me what exactly had happen but they wouldn't tell me. 'Miss Hart will tell you when she is ready.' 'It is healer patient confidentiality' 'Mr Black if you don't stop asking I'll make sure you stay here permanently!'" they all laughed. "So one day after about…three days of her being awake and slowly getting better I decided to push the matter of what the bloody hell happened."**_

"El?" I asked softly, rubbing her hand. She turned and smiled at me.

"Yes Sirius?" god I loved the way she said my name. She was getting better day by day and there was talking and hope of her coming back to Hogwarts within the next few days if all kept going the way it was. I sighed and bit my lip. How do you ask someone so wrapped up in mystery to peel back a layer and spill a obvious secret?

"I…I was just thinking…"

"Always a dangerous sign." She interrupted with a giggle. I smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Be nice! I have been known to think on the odd occasion." I replied poking out my tongue for good measure. She darted forward and captured my tongue with her mouth. I gasped in surprise and she pulled back, smiling widely.

"Now that was unexpected." I mumbled trying to get my thoughts aligned. Man, the things this woman did to me! it was amazing that I could ever think or function around her.

"I couldn't resist. Anyway, what were you thinking about?" she asked leaning back into her pillows. I sighed shakily and licked my lips. Deciding to dive in head first (which was what I seemed to be good at) I asked,

"What the bloody hell happened to you?"

She visibly paled and swallowed loudly.

"W…what are you talking about?" Ella asked quietly. She was lying and trying to buy time to think of a story other than the truth. How did I know? Her nose wiggles when she was lying or hiding something and the fact that I am Sirius Black. I have been buying time and lying my way out of answers and trouble for sixteen years.

"Please El, don't pull that crap with me. It's me, Sirius, your loving boyfriend who would die or kill someone if anything serious ever happened to you. I have spent more days and nights with you in hospital than what most people spend in entire lifetime." I reached over and grabbed her hand. I wasn't quite sure why she was trying to think of a decent lie to tell me. We never lied to each other. Well other than our night time excursions once a month and Mooney's furry little problem but that wasn't exactly my secret to tell so technically it didn't count.

"Please baby, don't lie to me. All I want to know is what happened so I can make sure it will never happen again." I added as softly as possible. I had to make her see that I wasn't trying to pry, even though in my mind I had ever right to considering I was pretty much going to spend the rest of my life with her and if this ever happened again I don't know what I would do. I couldn't bear to see her tiny body cold and pale or to see her lying on a hospital bed so still it was as if she was dead. It killed me. It literally made my heart stop beating and my blood run cold. It was the worst feeling in the world.

"You can't stop it. It's who I am." She mumbled so quietly I almost missed it.

"What?" I asked. Suddenly she froze. Eyes wide and nostrils flared almost as if she smelt a scent I couldn't smell which was impossible. Being able to transform into a dog on demand came in handle while I was human to. It gave me a slightly heightened sense of smell. Nothing super freaking like werewolves or vampires have but still rather impressive as far as I thought. She gripped my hand tightly and turned to me, fear and confusion burning brightly in her eyes. I frowned. What the hell brought on that on? It had only been a question it wasn't like I was asking for her kidneys.

"Ella…?" I started but she suddenly smiled widely.

"Sirius, could you do me a favour and go get me something to eat in the cafeteria? I'm suddenly starving and dinner won't be served for a few more hours." She asked. I nearly fell off my seat.

"What?" I spluttered out confused as hell. One minute she is frozen and scared the next she's asking for food?

"I know its weird but I got this sudden…pain and realised I was starving! I seemed to forget about food when you're around. Please babe?" she stroked my cheek and I sighed in content. Oh this girl was good! She had me firmly wrapped around her little finger and she knew it. I sighed and stood up kissing her forehead.

"Don't go anywhere I'll be right back." I mumbled, knowing that there was something else going on with her but why push it and now that I think of it she didn't actually eat lunch considering we spent most of the midday snogging and cuddling on the bed until a healer tod me to either remove myself from her bed or leave. I smiled guiltily at her and brushed a stray hair off her cheek. Ella smiled brightly back at me.

"I'll be here when you get back." she whispered blowing me a kiss as I headed towards the doors. I winked and walked out.

"_**No way did you leave her like that!" Hermione said loudly. "She was obviously lying!" I chuckled and nodded.**_

"_**Oh I knew very well she was lying. It's the best thing about finding someone you were meant for. You can tell every little thing about that one person in one look. Whether they're lying or not is a big part of it. I did fee bad because she really didn't eat lunch and because Lily and the others had gone back to school the day before seeing that she was okay and about to be sent back anyway, there was no one really responsible to remind us to stop snogging and eat." The boys in the room chortled. **_

"_**Than why didn't you push it? Why not stay and demand to know what was really wrong?" Ron asked. I shook my head.**_

"_**Ron, Ron, Ron. No wonder you're single mate. Every guy knows you never demand a woman to do anything. You'll only end up alone or ball less and if you're a right twat you'll end up both." They all laughed as Ron's ear and face went a bright red.**_

"_**I trusted Ella. Plain and simple. I knew she would tell me one day the real reason for the sudden hunger and scared look but then wasn't the right time." I shrugged. **_

"_**So basically you were afraid of how to actually ask her what had happened and why she acted so weird suddenly?" Fred asked.**_

"_**Well that as well but I like my explanation better." I smiled and winked much to everyone's laughter.**_

"_**Right everyone bed time. There will be more stories tomorrow." Molly piped up. Everyone sighed but complied **_

_**Everytime it gets juicy she sends us to bed. I swear that woman loves to torture us." Ron muttered under his breath as he passed me.**_

"_**That woman, Ronald Billius Weasley, can hear you." Molly growled. Ron paled and al but ran upstairs.**_

"_**Night Sirius." Ginny and Hermione kissed my cheeks before following Ron. I blushed slightly and cleared my throat.**_

"_**Yeah they have that effect on most guys. They just don't realise it." Harry muttered as he clapped me on the shoulder. **_

"_**You'll get her one day mate. You just got to be yourself and show her how amazing you think she is." I replied. Harry smiled and nodded.**_

"_**One day." He sighed. "One day I'll get the balls to show Ginny how much I like her."**_

I whistled an old song about Merlin's underpants softly as I made my way back to Ella's room. I was going to get some answers, I had decided. I wasn't going to push her nor was I going to outright ask her to tell me everything. I was going to use my wits and cleverness to somehow nudge her in the right direction of telling me. That way she would believe it was her idea in the first place to spill the beans. Okay well it sounded alright in theory okay? Don't judge me! I got to her door and went to step through as it was use to me by now and would normally let me in automatically only to find it wouldn't open. I frowned. How odd. I had never had this problem before. I grabbed the healer walking past with her nose buried in a chart and a row of bandages trailing behind her.

"I'm sorry to bother you but the door must be malfunctioning or something. It normally lets me in automatically seeing as im here every day and night but for some reason it won't open for me now. All I did was duck out for some food for my girlfriend." I said holding up the bags in my hands. The healer smiled softly at me. In another day and age where Ella never came into my life I might have been attracted to someone like her. She was tall and slim with bright blue eyes and long blonde hair curled into a bun at the base of her neck. She had creamy white skin and a pleasing figure. Problem was I was in love and not even thinking about other women because in my eyes, no one came anywhere close to my Ella so there was no point wasting time.

"I've seen you around here a lot. She must be pretty amazing for you to be so dedicated." She said in a shimmery voice as she stepped around me to the door. I smiled.

"She's my soul mate." I answered simply. It was true and explained everything as far as I was concerned. The healer nodded and smiled wider pulling out her wand.

"She is a very lucky girl." She said before frowning.

"What is it?" I asked.

"She must have another visitor." The healer replied.

"A Healer?" I asked. the Healer shook her head.

"If it was another Healer I would be permitted in but it won't let even me in."

"But there has been more than one visitor in there before." I frowned confused as to why I would be locked out if she was with someone else. The healer sighed.

"Sometimes if the patient wants some privacy with the visitor the door will lock anyone else out until the visitor leaves or the patient is done with the privacy." She explained. Ah well…that would explain why the Healers or visitors barely interrupted when we were snogging or cuddling except that one time.

"There's no way you can let me in?" I asked. She shook her head and started to walk away.

"Sorry darl, you'll just have to wait." And with that she was gone around the corner. I sighed and grumbled under my breath. Why the hell would Ella need privacy from me? Anything she said with Lily or the others could be said in front of me right. It was most of the time anyway. Unless…a sudden chill went down my spine. Unless the visitor in there with Ella wasn't one of the gang. My stomach sank. But than whom the hell would it be? She didn't know anyone else from the wizarding world other than the gang. Sure there were other students from school, but none she would trust to be alone with. Than whom the bloody hell was it? And why the hell were they alone with MY girlfriend? Suddenly the door opened and I walked in slowly. My jaw drop as did the bags of food when I saw Ella… wrapped up in the arms of another man.

"_**WHAT?" George yelled. The looks on their faces were priceless.**_

"_**How could she do that to you?" Ginny asked while Hermione nodded in agreement, her mouth covered by her hands.**_

"_**Who the hell was it?" Harry demanded looking both shocked and somewhat angry. **_

"_**She told you she loved you and when you leave she jumps in the arms of another man. Yep, sounds like a typical broad." Ron piped up. Hermione turned glaring and whacked him upside the head. **_

"_**Ronald, you are such a prat! How would you know what typical women do? You haven't even had a real girlfriend!" Ginny spat. Ron grumbled around his breath and turned a lovely colour of red that a tomato would be jealous of. **_

"_**If I could continue?" I asked loudly, deciding to play peacekeeper even though the children bickering could and were most time most entertaining. They all nodded and lent forward slightly. **_

"What the hell?" I asked making my presence known. Ella and the unknown man pulled away and turned to look at me. Ella blushed and looked down while the man stood straight and looked me dead in the eye. It was a little unnerving. He was roughly my height maybe a little taller and built like a brick shithouse. I could the powerful muscles poorly hidden by his cloak. He was as pale as Ella and had the same raven thick hair (his was tied neatly off his face) and had very light green eyes. He looked at be about twenty – twenty-one. I felt jealousy flare up and almost blind me. He turned to Ella and whispered something in a foreign language before kissing her cheek. I saw red. I wanted nothing more than to whip out my wand and curse this man until he disappeared. Ella looked up at him and smiled softly, replying in the same strange language. The man nodded once before sweeping out of the room without so much as another glance my way. I picked up the food and marched over to my chair by her bed, wondering if I should burn it since HE obviously sat there. I sat down and tried to calm myself. I was so angry that I could scream! I wanted to punch something. No scrap that I could kill someone. I felt betrayed and hurt and had obviously jumped to the wrong conclusion. I couldn't get my head around that obviously she was cheating on me even though I knew she wouldn't but me being me I was letting my imagination run wild. I took a few calming breathes before speaking. Ella was just sitting there biting her lip and staring at the blanket, twisting her hands around each other and looking guilty. That did nothing for my imagination. I clenched my fists and tried my hardest not to snap.

"So…who was that?" I asked a few minutes later. I was relieved to find that my voice sounded calm considering it felt like there was a roaring dragon inside me. She bit her lip and sighed.

"Is he your other boyfriend?" I snapped not knowing why the hell I said it but somehow feeling better. Ella flinched.

"No he is…"

"Just a fuck buddy?" I snapped again, wanting nothing more than to shut the hell up and let her explain but for some reason couldn't help myself. I was angry and hurt and annoyed. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"So I'm right?" I growled. "Tell me the truth for once in your miserable life Esmerelda! Who the fuck was he and why the fuck were you wrapped in his arms?" I practically yelled. Ella clenched her eyes closed and swallowed loudly before turning to me and opening them. I was shocked to see they were glistening with unshed tears.

"His name is Benji and he is my brother." Ella mumbled. Oh did I feel like a right twat.

"But...but I thought you had no family?" I asked hesitantly. She looked up at me with a cold look.

"I didn't think I did. He is the only family I have left." She replied almost hollow like. Oh Merlin I really was a right prat.


	21. Chapter 20

"_**Sirius what actually happened to her family? You sort of gave us her captured background but that was about it." Hermione piped up. I frowned. **_

"_**I thought I told you all about her family way back before we hit the hospital?" **_

"_**Only briefly what Lily and Remus were reading and remembered." Ginny added. Oops.**_

"_**But it doesn't really explain her immediate family very much." Harry piped up. I ran my hand through my hair with an awkward chuckle. **_

"_**Whoa sorry mates. You're probably confused as hell right now aren't you?" I shook my head. They nodded. **_

"_**Right well as you probably have gather there is a lot more to Ella than meets the eye right?" again they nodded. "And im guessing you all understood the whole spiel about the Marat family?" again they nodded. I took a deep breath. **_

"_**For as long as the family has been around, every male born into the family was a vampire." The room gasped.**_

"_**Every single one?" Hermione asked. I nodded.**_

"_**The original head of the house was a man known more commonly as Dracula, the father of vampires. He was a Prince in Romania who ruled the land with an iron fist. Those he didn't like became his meals and those he liked only occasionally became his meal." I chuckled at the sick looks that cross their faces. **_

"_**The Muggles believed he was a human who was in love with the idea of power and struggling with the losses and suffering that had plagued his life. The vampire part is a myth to them." Hermione joined in. "He was known as Vlad Tempes or Vlad the Impaler for his love of impaling his enemies on huge posts that lined the entrance to his castle. They believed he drunk their blood and occasionally would eat the flesh. He was killed and cut into pieces and spread around the country with his head being impaled for everyone to see. The name Dracula came from his last name Dracul and then Bram Stoker many years later who wrote a story loosely based on the Prince Vlad and Bram called him Dracula and portrayed him as a vampire and the myth started there." I nodded again amazed at the amount of knowledge the young witch had. **_

"_**True but and I mean no offence, but again the Muggles have it wrong. The man they killed and cut up was in fact Dracula's man servant Edmund who was a human loyal to Dracula only. Dracula was his real name and he was around many, many years before Stoker came. The only reason he wasn't Dracula's meal was the vampire liked the way Bram described him. He was a vain bugger that one. But anyway we're getting off topic. Dracula was powerful, rich and a vampire, the first vampire. And as odd as this may sound, he was lonely. One day a foreign young girl was brought to him accused of murdering one of the palace guards. Dracula was used to people bowing and cowering and begging for forgiveness but was pleasantly surprised when the young girl boldly looked him in his eyes and stood tall and proud. He asked her if she was guilty and she admitted it."**_

"_**Just like that?" **_

"_**No, pretence?" The twins asked. I shook my head. **_

"_**She was honest and told him that it was either her or her neighbour who would end up dead and she liked being alive too much. To most of the courts surprise Dracula laughed. Dracula and Alice Kyteler, an Irish widow, was married three months later. She told Dracula that she was witch and that she was a foreigner because she was an outcast after being accused of being a witch and they tried to burn her alive. Dracula didn't care and they ruled together for many, many years after that, both as vile and sick in the head as each other. But Alice, the snakey woman she was, got bored and went outside the castle without her husband. The townsfolk were scared and had heard the rumours that she had sold her soul to the devil and was a witch which wasn't a good thing back then. That and they didn't trust the wife of what they believed to be the devil himself. So they hunted her. She tried to run but the caught her and tied her to a stake. Alice, thinking she was so clever, stood her ground and cast a curse upon the people that all the first borns would pass away as they reached their first birthdays. Unknown to Alice, another witch lived amongst the villagers. This witch, Maud, was friendly and loving and only used her powers for good, turned the curse around on Alice and cursed her family to be exactly like her from then until forever. Alice escaped and ran away. The story goes on that she was pregnant and gave birth to a son and the curse was real and the son was a vampire who grew up and married a witch surprisingly and they had a daughter who also a witch was called Morgana and a son who was a vampire…"**_

"_**NO way! Ron shouted.**_

"_**Ella was related to Morgana? As in THE Morgana?" Harry exclaimed.**_

"_**Apparently. But a lot of it was crap. Anywho!..." I held my hand to keep them quiet. "You interrupt and well never get back to the story. You asked and now im explaining so shush and let me finish than you can blab your questions."**_

"_**The family moved around a lot and no matter who they married, the children that they bore followed the curse. The daughter was always a witch and the son a vampire. The family ended up back in Romania centauries later and the rest you know." I finished with a smirk.**_

"_**But Sirius you only explained that the King was killing the entire family. You never told us about Ella's immediate family and how she came who she was." Hermione whined. I sighed.**_

"_**You're never happy with just a basics are you?" I shook my head and rubbed my face.**_

"_**The Marat family originally ruled over Romania and Russia and the male heirs ruled the vampire clans. There are many types of vampire and at the time they were all separate clans, mostly because they couldn't stand each other and no…I am not describing all of them. You can go look that up yourselves. Anyway for hundreds of years her family ruled and it was a time of great peace and all that crap then a particularly nasty Knight called Lesion Carnis who was the King at the time right hand man caused a rebellion and overthrew the Marat family. He sentenced every member of the Marat family to death as he saw how many people obviously still loved and respected their King before him and he was also scared that they would turn and eat him. He was a paranoid little wimp. So for years the Marat family was hunted and murdered like animals because of whom and what they were. The Vampire clans fled and scattered all across the world and went into hiding underground. Hence why you never see a vampire in public day or night."**_

"_**I always wondered that." Ron said thickly. I shook my head. Thank god the boy was decent looking. **_

"_**The last recorded murder was about two centuries ago where they hung Lady Ordella it was then that a treaty was made between the King and the Marat family who had survived. The Marat family became the guards of the Royal family as they were obviously stronger and lived longer because they were vampires. The women Marat's were to become the King and Queens personal witches. In short they were turned slaves. They were banned from showing their fangs or their magic in public and had to survive of the blood of animals which wasn't to healthy, they weren't allowed to marry or to bare children…"**_

"_**What?" Harry exclaimed.**_

"_**How could they agree to it?" Ginny barked. I smiled softly. It was the same reaction the gang and I gave when Ella told us the whole story.**_

"_**They had no choice. It was agree to it or be wiped out. The new Kings were violent and lazy and only cared about riches and power. The Marat members figured they needed to stick around to try and help the people as much as possible. Hundreds of years passed with the treaty in place. The vampires stayed by their Kings as the centuries went past not saying or doing anything. The clans gathered again in secret and all looked to their previous leaders to lead them which they did. Around three hundred years after the treaty was put into place, King Mason allowed the Marat family to marry and bare children again seeing as they were running short of powerful witches seeing as almost all the witches in and around Romania and Russia hid it or migrated to America or here or anywhere else really. The only condition was that the witches born into the family were to become slaves as well and the vampires were put to training and guarding at a young age. The only other powerful witches known at the time were the Lavata family and the Kings didn't dare to go near them for fear of being cursed or killed. They were very blunt very powerful and very anti-authority. Hundred years after that new development King Christos , a slug of a man more paranoid than all his other past family members, slowly ordered the death or imprisonments of every member of the Marat family." **_

"_**But if the family was dedicated and bound to serve and protect him and his own why the hell would he put himself at risk like that?" George asked scratching his head.**_

"_**Because he was worried that the vampire's would get to great again and start controlling the clans and therefor over throw him and his family and in turn stop his huge amounts of power and wealth." Hermione answered before I could take a breath. **_

"_**But that's just stupid. He might as well put a bullet in his own head." Harry frowned. "What was the point?"**_

"_**What's the point of what Voldemort is doing now?" I said softly. The group flinched at the name. "No one really knows do they? They didn't really know back then either. Christos was just an over grown child throwing a tantrum. So in return the Marat family began escaping and running to countries that the King would never think to find them. England, America, Australia, China…anywhere and everywhere and they did it quietly and quickly over a period of six months. Soon all remaining Marat members who, sadly, consisted of about forty were free and allowed to do what they wanted. Most of the vampires found wives and allowed themselves to age, have a family and eventually die. The witches found husbands or went and worked in hospitals and lived their days free of everything. About thirty years ago, a ten year old Rowan Marat who lived in Italy, met a beautiful young Isabel Lavata also ten. They became best friends and eventually dated when they were older. They were married and Isabel became pregnant. Now no one knew what to expect with this child as she had a vampire father who was the last of his line sadly and an incredibly powerful witch mother. But they gave birth to a healthy baby boy and the curse stood the same, he was a vampire. They had three more boys after that all vampires and two girls who were witches. Than they found out they were having another child but this one was proving to be a lot more complicated than the other pregnancies. It grew faster and was heavier and stronger in its kicks and movements that the others. Rowan and Isabel were worried something was not quite right with this child but before they could do anything about it to see what was wrong, group of hunters came and attacked the city they were staying in. the family moved and stayed on the run for the better part of three months. The child was born in Alaska and to the shock of both parents the little girl grew up to be both witch and vampire more powerful than her parents ever were. They moved all around the world trying to stay undetected and safe. they ended up in Romania where the hunters had come from and were captured and murdered as they were the last of the Marat family. The King at the time, Michael stopped them from killing Ella as she was special but she ended up escaping to England where she was captured by Voldemort and then got free and ended with us and that's the whole story of her family and how she got here." I finished with a sigh. Silence filled the room.**_

"_**Wow." Harry mumbled. I nodded.**_

"_**that pretty much summons it up. Now do you want to hear more story or are you done for the night?" I asked desperate to change topics. As much as I loved Ella I hated talking or remembering her families past. It gave me the chills. **_

"_**I want to know how her brother survived if the family was all murdered!" Ginny piped up. The other nodded. I was glad that they didn't ask any questions about the background information on Ella. I really wasn't in the mood. **_

"_**Well okay then!" I smiled. "on with the story it is!"**_


	22. Chapter 21

_A/N: I'm sorry I haven't posted in a long time a lot of stuff has happened and lets just leave it at that. Here is the next chapter it might possible be shit and I'm sorry but I'm trying to get back into the swing of writing again so give me a break __ that I am trying to raise my daughter and she's 4 months and a terror lo_

_I'll try and get back on top of updating as much as possible because I am dying to see what you all think of what I have coming up soon._

_Please review and let me know what you think of this one. Sorry again for the mammoth wait._

_Wanderer_

_xo_

"So…you're saying that you're actually…royalty?" I asked shocked. She nodded meekly. I leant back in my chair blown away. I was pretty much dating a freaking Princess?

"And your family were pretty much slaughtered over the generations for being powerful witches and because your family was over thrown on the throne and the new King was incredibly paranoid and didn't really want your family living in case you decided you all wanted the thrown back?" again she nodded.

"The last time I saw my family was many years ago." She mumbled softly looking at her hands. "We fled back to Romania of all places believing the hunters would never find us under their noses."  
"But they did?" I asked softly. She nodded.

"I watched every member of my family die because they were different. They killed papa first as he stood protecting us, than my older brothers were cut to pieces while they were still breathing, my sisters and mama were beaten and r…raped first...before" She clenched her eyes shut and took a deep breath. I leant over and took her hands in my mine.

"They…they sowed my mother's lips shut and dragged her through the streets telling everyone she was a witch and gave birth to the devils children. The people threw stones and rotten fruit at her." Ella frowned and I noticed her subtle accent started to get thicker. I rubbed her hands softly trying to ease her pain. I had no idea why she was reliving this for my benefit nor why she was telling me everything but I knew that it would bring us closer together...I hoped it would bring us together. I'm still not to sure how to take the fact I am dating a Princess! But one thing for sure I knew was that there was no way I would ever hurt Ella or let anyone ever hurt her. This was the real her, nothing hidden and everything bare and as much as it kinda scared me and intimidated me I wasn't about to up and leave her.

"They strung my sisters up by their hands and let the crowds throw stones until they died." Her eyes glossed over at the memories.

"What about you?" I asked softly. I didn't really want to know what she had gone through I had seen her torn up body once and that was enough for me.

"I was chained to the Kings chair by a collar like an animal and forced to watch it all happen. Benji, the man you thought was my lover survived the attacks because of my mother. Before they dragged her around the streets, she cast an illusion spell on him. The body those men cut to pieces was an illusion of my brother. He fled and has been hiding, travelling around trying to find me. When he heard I was here he had to come." She smiled softly. "We were always close when we were younger. He is only a few years older than me." I rubbed her hand as my thoughts drifted.

"How did he hear you were here?" I asked still mulling things over in my mind. She frowned and tilted her head at me.

"I do not understand."

"I mean if he can find you, cant the Kings men do the same?" I asked. She shook her head.

"The person who told him is…or at least was a loyal friend of the family and the only reason why he knew where I was, was because he had a brother who heard from drunken death eaters that they had me." Ella shook her head. "Idiots." I barely heard her. Something didn't add up. If they were witches why did the King hunt them so harshly? The last time something like that happened was the Witch hunts in America and even then most of the 'witches' burnt and killed weren't really witches. Men had no idea on how to spot us or tell the difference between a witch/wizard to a normal Muggle, so how the bloody hell did this guy manage? And why not wipe out other witches as well instead of just the family? No, something was defiantly not adding up in this story.  
"Ella?" I asked. She turned to me and smiled sadly. My heart ached for her. I wish I could take away the bad memories and let her be free. She was so young and yet she had the eyes of someone who had seen and been through more than anyone should in a lifetime. I just hope I had a lifetime to help her feel free and safe.

"Yes Sirius?" she replied. I swallowed and took a deep breathe. Something told me I wasn't going to like this.

"Why were you and your family so important? I know you were powerful witches and I know that you were once the ruling force and the King was scared you would raise up and over throw him but something just doesn't fit." She sighed and nodded.

"I knew you were too smart to miss that." She reached up and stroked my face. "I love you, you know that?" I frowned, oh yeah I was defiantly not going to like this. Nothing good came from either 'we have to talk' or 'You know I love you right?' starting a sentence. I should know, it was two of the many lines I used on the many women I dated when I wanted to break up. Maybe I don't want to know after all. Maybe I was better in the dark. She had already told me so much and I honestly felt closer to her than ever did I really need to know every detail? I mentally slapped myself. Yes I did. Here Ella was, pouring her heart out and revealing her everything and I was scared it would affect me. Some Gryffindor I was! She had suffered so much in such a short time the least I could do is at least listen. I just prayed it was nothing worse than what I had already heard. I don't think I could handle hearing her pain any more. It tore me up inside.

"Of course I do. I wouldn't be here if I didn't. You know I love you as well." I stroked her hand I still had clasped in mine. She nodded.

"I'll tell you everything just promise me you won't interrupt?" I nodded. Ella took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

"My family was…is cursed. We have been for centuries. No matter whom we married or had children with, the girls would always be powerful witches and the men…" she paused and took a deep breath. "The men were vampires." I frowned.

"You're joking right?" I asked…hoped she was. Ella shook her head.

"I would never joke about something like this." I breathed deeply.

"Some curse." I muttered. She chuckled darkly.

"You don't know the half of it." Ella muttered.

"Tell me." I prompted. I wanted… no needed to know exactly what the hell I was getting into. The man that was here before was a vampire! One of the rarest, most dangerous beings in our world. What made them so dangerous was the fact we knew hardly anything about them. Only that they drunk human blood and never stayed in the same place to long for fear of being caught. That and the Ministry had tagged the few remaining vampires and they were given to a 'carer' who made sure they didn't attack innocent people. Other than that they were a mystery, a scary mystery. But I didn't let my fear show to Ella. She would be hurt and angry at my reaction so I stayed quiet and calm. She took a deep breath and nodded.

"My father was "King of the Clans." Basically he ruled over the vampire population. Every vampire belongs to a coven or clan minus a few weird wanderers. These wanderers leave their coven or clan and wander around like nomads. They do not live under our rules nor do they have a part in our world per say. They are stripped of their magic links to the clans and our courts and are banned from ever stepping foot on our lands. Theses nomads are not welcomed where the other clans meet and if we ever pass them we ignore them or kill them. The vampires you and your government have tagged are theses nomads. Real, free living vampires are too clever to get caught or seen by Governments." She smiled softly at me. I was too shocked to speak. There were whole clans of vampires out there that no one knew about? The minister would have a fit if he knew! Not to mention worldwide panic. I frowned slightly at her wording. She mentioned vampires as a 'we'. As if she was one of them. She couldn't be though as she was a female. The females in her family were witches only right? The thought sent shivers down my spine. No way could the girl I loved and had already started planing my future with be a blood sucking monster! It obviously a slip on words or a feeling she was connected to them as her father was one. Yes that was it. Just a mutual feeling of belonging due to her father being a blood sucking freak.

"Every coven and clan has a leader and the leader looks to the King which at the time was my father. The King has the final say in what the vampires do or final punishments for anyone who breaks our laws." there was that damn we again!

"He also is the only one who can call the clans together to fight in a battle or war. The clans are somewhat friendly towards each other and the humans have no idea they exist so there hasn't been need for the war call in over a thousand years but other than that he is really just a figure head. Now Benji is the King of vampires." She put a finger to my lips as I opened them to ask a question.  
"Save it until after I am done yes?" She asked, stroking my bottom lip with the side of her thumb nail. I nodded. Hell while she was doing that, the woman could have asked me to cut off my left nut and I would have happily agreed. The things this woman did to my body and mind was insane. Here she was, telling me something no man would ever want to hear come out of their girlfriend's mouth and all I could think about was how hot she was and how nice it would be if we could snog. I mentally shook my head. Get a grip Black!

"As per the agreement the men in my family became body guards while the women served the King as his personal witches. That was the way for centuries. The vampires gradually mingled back into society under the careful watch of my family and then the new King decided to hunt us again." She faltered. I rubbed her cheek.

"You can tell me anything. I promise it will be okay." I encouraged. She chewed her lip and wrapped her arms around her middle. She looked so small and delicate I just wanted to reach out and hug her.

"They hunted us because of me." Ella mumbled. I frowned.

"Why you? No offence babe but you don't exactly scream 'threat'." I chuckled. Deep down I had a very nasty feeling. The type of feeling that makes you feel sick in the guts and squirm all over. The type of feeling that was followed by the worst possible news. This was defiantly not going to be good news. She looked at me square in the eye.

"You promised to hear me out about everything. No matter what happens from here on in, know that I really do love you." She said. I nodded frowning.

"My family was murdered because for the first time since the curse…" She swallowed loudly. "I'm not hundred per cent witch. I…I'm the first…" she stopped and bit her lip. What the hell was she that made her so scared?

"Esmerelda, you can tell me. I can handle it." I said softly. She took a deep breath and nodded.

"I'm the first hybrid." She said looking up at me. "I am the only female vampire witch ever in my family... in the world. And I am the only one of my kind." I slumped back. A hybrid? My girlfriend, the love of my life was a…hybrid?

"What?" I asked. My poor brain had stopped working. It officially packed up and left.

"I am a vampire as well as a witch." She mumbled playing with her blanket. I nodded slowly.

"Sirius?" she asked after a few seconds. I shook my head and raised my hand.

"Don't." I mumbled standing slowly on shaking legs. I had no idea what I was meant to do. How does one act when he discovers his girlfriend is a blood sucking monster? A monster that by all rights and reason shouldn't even exist!

"Sirius please..." she reached out to grab me but I jerked away.

"Don't touch me you monster!" I yelled. Her hand fell back on the bed and the look on her face almost destroyed me. She looked broken. I mentally shook my head.

"I'm not a monster Sirius." she said softly staring at me. I chuckled darkly.

"No of course not. You're just a normal blood sucking teenage girl who caused the deaths of her entire family. No not a monster at all." I snapped. She gasped and clenched her eyes closed. I instantly regretted those words. No matter how freaked out and disgusted I was (yes as petty as it sounded I was disgusted with myself and with her for lying to me) she did not deserve those words.

"Ella, I'm..."  
"get out." she mumbled, refusing to look at me. My heart sank just that little bit lower. But I refused to show it. She had lied to me! She out everyone I loved in danger because she was a coward and hiding! She could have snapped and drained anybody at any time!

"You're kicking me out because I told you the truth? Ha! I'll go and ill never come back! Why would I want to be around a blood sucking murderer anyway?" I snapped. She turned to me and I stumbled backwards. The girl in front of me wasn't my Ella. Her eyes had gone black, her face was hard and cold and fangs now decorated the mouth I once loved to kiss. But out of all that the thing that scared me the most was her voice. It was cold and empty with no emotion what so ever. So unlike the honey tones I was use to and it sent a chill right through me.

"I said get out! And if you return I will show you just how much of a blood sucking murderer I really am." she hissed, her usual subtle accent coming out full fledged. I cowered and headed to the door. But me being the idiot I was I had to turn the knife just that little more.

"I wont be back. You're all alone. Who could stand you when you're nothing but a freak?" and with that I left...and I didn't turn back.


End file.
